The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, March 8, 1920, Page 5

.. set to work to study the grasshop- “ting rid of him. This article treats . HEARTY FEEDERS than a clear, dry spring. The young A il el o (N 62 ke T L e Ral " is only one effective means of getting rid of them, Orgamzmg to Fight the Grasshopper i “Team Work Counts in Combating Insects as in Other Ways, North Dakota Farmers Find HE Bible tells of the plagues that were sent a good many thousands of years ago to punish the rulers of Egypt— ~vermin, boils, hail, cattle disease and the like.” About the worst and one of — the last was the plague of locusts which came, as the Bible says, on the east wind. “They covered the face of the whole earth so that the land was darkened and they did eat every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.” Finally a west wind carried the locusts away. Farmers of the Northwest, dunng the past few years, have been able to appreciate how the ancient ~-Egyptians must have felt, for the plague of grass- héppers of many varieties, some of them probably - identical with the “locusts” that plagued Egypt,_ have come year after year, and there - has been no west wind of sufiiclent force to blow them away. Instead of whistling for a west wind the northwestern farmers have per. and devise other means of get- of some of the conditions that are re- sponsible ‘for the grasshopper men= ace and some of the steps that may be taken to end the trouble. The-adult grasshopper deposits its eggs in the ground in the late fall, boring a hole for this ‘purpose. The eggs are stuck together with a gum- my substance which hardens and holds them intact in a group shaped like a banana but no longer than a - bean. . THEY'RE LITTLE, BUT The young hoppers do not hatch until the following spring. They are ~very delicate at first, especially be- fore they are fully -dried. Then for ‘some weeks they are so small as to be hardly noticeable. Their wings have not developed and they can only hop around. It is generally not until July . that they are of such size that they begin to attract attention, although all this time they have been eating industriously. Then, with wings fully formed, they become so numerois that, like of old, the “land is darken- ed” with them, and when they have finished cleaning the crops in one township they can fly away to the next: This is a mixer for grasshopper poison devised by the North Dakota Agri- “The life history of the grasshopper <¢ultural college experts, especially for the use of farmers who want to organ- helps to explain why they are more ize to go after the “hoppers.” n?u?xerous §’°me yles tian others. mixed thoroughly, and a 100-pound ‘batch cdan be turned out every eight min- and what steps may be taken to erad- utes. The formula for the poison is: 10 icate them. In the first place a rainy, (5 pounds if the arsenic is in coarse grains), 4 pounds of salt, 1 dozen lemens, cloudy spring is less likely to be fol- -2 gallons “blackstrap” molasses, 15 to 18- gallons of water. The barrel of the lowed by a bad grasshopper summer ixer is made of galvanized iron, the ends of boards and the support of timber. Working drawings and specifications may be obtained from the North Dakota Agricultural college, extension division. hoppers are tender when hatched and | if they do not dry out readily many ‘of them perish. In the next place fields that are cultivated by spring and fall plowing and harrow- ing are less likely to breed grasshoppers than fields ~allowed to lie idle, for the cultivation destroys many of the eggs. In one North Daketa county, a couple of years ago, 52 per cent of the total crops planted were “stubbled in” grain. That year that county had the worst plague of grasshoppers in. its history. But if farmers are countmg on getting rid of grasshoppers by proper cultivation it must be re- - membered that the stretches of grass along a road- way, or a neighbor’s uncultivated fields, are as good breeding places for grasshoppers as can be found, and after they are hatched they do not stay Iong® in one place. After the grasshoppers: have -been hatched there and that is by pmson. They are best poxsoned as early as possible, before they have had time to do too much damage and while young, because as they get old and tough the poison is less effective. The standard mixture is four pounds of arsenic to 100 pounds of bran, with lemions and molasses to make .the mixture more palatable. In case the arsenic is coarse, an extra pound may be necessary. The copper smelters of Montana and Utah pro- vide the best source of arsenic. Canadian growers are reported to have ordered large. supplies in ad- vance for the present year and it is recommended that farmers who fear the grasshopper menace during the year arrange to get their supplies as far in advance as possible to eliminate possible loss by delays later. Arsenic is a metal and will keep - indefinitely. The other ingredients of the mixture can be bought on the open market at almost any time, In case arsenic can not be secured paris green is a good substitute, but must be used in A GRASSHOPPER POISON MIXER larger - quantities. Some farmers use one-half ‘pound of paris green in addition to the four pounds of arsenic. On account of the coloring of the paris. green it is easy to see when the ingredients are properly mixed. In North Dakota a law has been adopted allowing counties to levy a mill and one-half tax, on petition of 10 per cent of the voters, to buy and spread: grasshopper poison. Prote,cfing a whole township or county at one time is much more-effective and economical, of course, than attemptmg to do the work mdlwdually : For the use of counties desiring to mix poison in large quantities, the North Dakota Agricultural college has devised a mechanical mixer, pictured on this page. Plans and specifications for this mixer may be obtained by apphcahon to the col- . lege, extension division. Nature wfll help the farmers to get nd o:t the . PAGE FIVE With this machine the poison bran can be grasshoppers, according to the scientists who have been studying the problem. It has been commonly believed.that red mites, which may be seen as red specks on the legs and bodies of most of the north- we;tem grasshoppers, are-the hoppers’ worst en- smies. According to Stewart Lockwood, grass- hopper expert of the North Dakota Agricultural college, however, it is yet/to be proved just what harm these red mites do. But there is a fly, about the size of the common house fly, that lays a live maggot ‘that feeds on the grasshopper and finally causes its death. These flies are increasing in number, which should be good news to the farmer. There is also a fungus disease that attacks- grass- hoppers, especially in years with damp .springs, and causes them to .die, crawling up wheat stems and wrapping their legs about the stems. About the worst enemies the grasshoppers have, though, are birds, wild and tame, especially such * birds as prairie chickens and turkeys. A turkey to each acre of ground helped farmers in one section of Kansas to get rid of grasshoppers entirely.- Mr. Lockwood of: North Dakota estimates that a prairie chicken will keep an acre and a half free from grasshoppers in the ordi- nary year. He says: “The North Dakota legislature passed a law allowing prairie chick- ens to be hunted with guns, but not with dogs: This is a good law, but it would be still better if it were hunt with dogs, but not with guns. Birds: are the farmers’ best friends. ‘Clear a space and throw some crumbs or grain to them in winter and don’t * allow much shootmg around your land.” SOME HELPFUL TIPS FROM AN EXPERT - Some of “Grasshopper” Lock- wood’s other suggestions are: “Don’t wait wuntil grasshoppers are full grown to poison them; you’ll need an aeroplane to catch them then. Get after them while they are young and a pan‘ of horses will do the trick. “Broadcast the pmson so that the flakes fail separated. Then the poi- son will not harm birds or livestock. Even sheep can graze over the land without danger. - “Don’t forget that the grasshop- pers, when they come eating their Yeu have to be organized to fight them. Poisoning them on your land, when they are left alone in the roads or in your neighbor’s land, -doesn’t 100 pounds of bran, 4 pounds of arsenic Jo much good. “Plow and cultivate well. A plow is one of the best insecticides in ex- istence.” There are nearly 50 known varie- ties of grasshoppers in the North- ° west. In add.ltxon, the Pacific North- west has been afflicted, in recent years, with plagues of what are known as ‘“coulee crickets,” but which are really wingless grasshoppers. -Thece invaders travel more slowly than their winged cousins, but in'past years have come in such num- bers that all ordinary methods of extermination proved useless. Farmers in some sections of Wash- ington finally were driven to put up high board fences across the trails followed by the so-called erickets, which bred in the hills and came down the little valleys to the farms. Even these were un- availing until metal flanges were fastened at the -top ‘to prevent the insects from climbing over. After the insects were backed up in front of these fences trenches were dug, which were soon filled, then oil ‘used and the crickets were burned. ‘Washington farmers also found that turkeys and wild game birds helped them to hold the insects in check : turned around, so that you could way across your fields, are organized. °