SOME PRESS BULLETINS. 
17 
Pruning is not desirable, unless it be so done as to cause a thicker 
growth. Thus in the case of the willow, many smaller stems may be 
secured by cutting out the main trunk a foot or so above the ground 
when four or five years old. In this way a single, or, better still, a 
double row of willows, closely planted, may be used as a hedge, whic^ 
will also serve as an effective wind-break. 
GRASSHOPPERS UPON THE PLAINS. 
BY C. P. GILLETTE 
The western plains have long been noted for their hordes of 
grasshoppers. The reputation is chiefly due to the great swarms of 
the "‘Destructive” or "/Rocky Mouhtain Locust” that used to fly out 
from the mountains in numbers sufficient to destroy all crops in p 
few hours, wherever they stopped. This pest is no longer to be 
feared in Colorado, but there are several species of locusts (grass¬ 
hoppers) that are present every year and often in destructive num¬ 
bers. The habits and remedies for the most of these may be given 
in a general way as follows: , 
Life History .—During the fall months the female locusts deposit 
their eggs in little pockets, an inch to an inch and a half deep, in the 
ground. The eggs are found in largest numbers along road sides, 
ditch banks and the borders of fields. They hatch about as soon as 
green vegetation starts enough to give the little hoppers plenty of 
tender, nutritious food. 
If plenty of food is at hand, the little grasshoppers do not wander 
far from the place of hatching for a few days, and their presence may 
be noticed by the perforated and ragged leaves of weeds as well as 
cultivated plants where they are feeding. 
By the middle of July, a few of these locusts will have wings, 
which means they are fully grown, but few, if any, eggs will be de¬ 
posited before the middle or latter part of August. Very soon after 
a female has laid her eggs she dies, and there are some of the later 
individuals that do not finish egg-laying until they are killed by the 
cold, freezing nights late in November. There is but one generation 
or round of development of the locust in a year. 
Destruction of Bggs .—The eggs of locusts are very soon killed 
by being exposed to the dry air and sunshine of Colorado, so if it is 
known that there are many of the eggs in meadows, alfalfa fields, 
along road sides or ditch banks, it is an excellent plan to plow or 
thoroughly harrow the infested ground during the late fall, winter, or 
early spring. It will pay well to harrow the alfalfa just because of 
the increased crop of hay that will result, even if there are no locust 
eggs. 
