6 
THE COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
The material and its cost to build the dozer at Rocky Ford 
was as follows: 
One sheet of No. 24 galvanized iron, 23 lbs. at 9 cts-$2.07 
“ “ “ 2x4, 8 ft. 
“ “ “ 2x10, 8 ft. 
“ “ “1x4, 16 ft. 
Total _32 ft. at 21 cents_ 97 )C 
3 yards of table oilcloth at 18 cents-- 54c 
4 cast wheels__ __ --- 50° 
Bolts, nails and rope. ______ 40c 
1 bill candle wicking____ jlOc 
Total cost_ $4.56 
The hopperdozer was first tried on Mr. J. R. Roth’s six acres 
of alfalfa east of Rocky Ford, the field being so infested that in 
the evening when the hoppers climbed to the top of alfalfa stems 
they gave a yellow cast to the otherwise green field. They had 
completely destroyed the alfalfa bloom and the adjoining fields of 
potatoes and beets, and cantalopes were threatened as soon as the 
alfalfa should be cut. After getting a start of several swaths with 
the mower, the dozer was started. The first round with 
the dozer the horse walked outside of the alfalfa while 
the dozer covered the first two swaths of the mower. 
The movements of the horse frightened the hoppers from 
the edge of the field into the pan or farther into the field to 
be caught at some succeeding round with the dozer. In the first 
two rounds, a half bushel measure of grasshoppers was skimmed 
from the pan; more water and oil were added, and the work con¬ 
tinued to the center of the field, catching the hoppers more rapidly 
at each succeeding round. The last two swaths were so covered 
with hoppers that the mower was stopped and the dozer driven 
over this standing strip with the horse on a trot. The strip was 
about eight feet wide by seven hundred long, and once over and 
back on this strip, caught three heaping half bushels of grass¬ 
hoppers. Many of the hoppers were down in the hay and after 
about fifteen minutes they had crawled to the top, and covered the 
strip again, and again the drive was made and two half bushels 
was the result. 
The strip was left standing for several days and the dozer 
run over it several times each day catching many of the hoppers 
that remained on the field. 
The dozer was run over the field several times the day it was 
mowed and between nine and ten bushels of grasshoppers were 
caught besides many that got out of the pan but died from the effect 
of the oil bath. A careful count of the number of grasshoppers 
