The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-05-18

W enectuaiiy DESTROYED before the wei
ana cold occurred. The means employed
were nostly Kerosene pans and BURNING
over tOO Kerosene pans having been made
at Salina alone.
Third-The tceGtheY. The continued
cola after the principal hatehing, mad the
eneet, as already stated, te kiil many that
wer' just Matching or moiiIng. The heavy
ram also washed many away into the
streams. and in some instances IN SOILS
which contain sand and lin and wAlch i
are liable to eraca when u y. the rams /
doubtless covered up and killed such as
were sheltering IN such tlSsu.t.--
Fourth-C1imdte. The fat that the
Insects, especially AFTER the second and |
third moitings, are dying, is simply con-
hrmatory of the views have aiN avs held |
and advanced, that the species Is out of
its natural habitat, and can never perma- !
nently thrive here. These views i need
not repeat at length here. While the num-
Der that have thus became sickly and died
have not so far begun to compare with
those which have persisted in the other
three ways mentioned, il will doubtless
continue to increase as the insects get lar
ger, for already they show tendency to
unnaturaily group together during the
heat Of the day, aud eat much less raven
ously than when In perfect health
EXTENT OF THE FAVORABLE STATE OF
THINGS.
Such are the generally favorable con-
ditiOns throughout the area which |
have already mentioned, and of which
alone l can speak with assurance.
How far the same conditions prevail
north of the X. =. and in the other
States threatened, cannot positively
tell yet, but similar reports OF disap-
pearance are very general, and am
strongly OF the opinion that We shall
have repetition OF the comparative
harmlessness of 1867.
VIOLENCE STILL NECESSARY.
am the last to desire that this favor
able report should lull your farmers
into an undue sense of security. The
security against injury will depend al
tOgether on the proportion of eggs
which have Matched. Thus in the
more sandy belt west of a line rough
ly drawn through junction City and
Florence, not one per cent. of the eggs
remain unmatched; while east of that
line, where the eggs were laid later and
the soil is mostly colder and more te-
naclous, from 0ne-hal1 to three-fOurths
OF them are yet unmatched and with
few exceptions, sound. In the former
area few fields may suffer. especially
along the river courses. but there will
be no general destruction; in the lat
ter the injury may yet be great and
REMEDIES.
You request my suggestiI n as to
mode and time OF Destroying In the
destruction of the eggs it is too late to
accomplish anything now; but / will
state that my trip through your State
has more than confirmed me in the
opinion which / have tor some time
held, and which was supported by ex-
periments last winter, viz: that har-
rowing in the fall is the most effectual
way of destroying them. Wherever
practiced no eggs have Matched. The
different means of destroying the
young insects 1 haye given at length
| in the Missuri reports, and they have
been copied in one of the late month
~ reports of your board of agricul-
ture. They necessarily vary some
what with the nature of the soil and
OF the crops, and 1 have time only in
this connection to give you the princi-
pies rather than details. For conve-
nience these means may be classified
ping; 4th, catching; 9Th, the use IF de-
structiue agents.
l. Burning-IR q prairie and wheat
growing country like that which 1 have
passed through, burning is perhaps the
best of all means OF warfare against Inc
| young 1OcuSLSs 1utSS, IOT SOuc IluAC AAtcA
| they hatch, may be driven into Wlnd-roWs
| or heaps of straw scattered around and
| through a field and burned. During cold,
damp weather, they Will. Of their own
accord, cOngregaSe under such SHELTER
and have known them to be eXterminat.
| ed by burning where no driving was nee
essary. As to burning prairie in the spring
while there is much to be said, pro and
con, it Is, all things considered. Denenc1al
| IN this connection. Scarcely any eggs are
l lofA fpfo md no I'm N aGsln
| that locusts are slaughtered by myrlads
| in burning extensive areas is false one.
1t Is beneficial principally around cult
| waited fields and rOadsides, from which the
| locusts may be driven, or will OF them
selves pass for the shelter the prairIes at.
f0rds. The burning of extensive prairies
| after the bulk of the locusts hatch, de-
stroys the nests and eggs OF some game
| birds which feed upon the locusts, but
| the birds themselves always escSpe and
nest again; whereas many nOXiOus in
sects like the chinch bugs are killed; so
| that, even leaVfn G the locust question out
/ of consideration, the burning would yet
| prove advantageous to man.
| 2. C4-uShing-Can be resorted to with
| advantage only in exceptional cases,
where the ground is smooth and hard.
| 8. IfdppiRg-chis is very efectual, es-
/ pecialIy when the insects are making thier
| way into field from roads and hedges.
| 1.-The use of nets or selns, or conVerging
| strips of calico or other material, made
after the plan OF quail net, prove most
satisfactory. BY digging pit. or boring
a post augur hole, three or four feet deep,
| and then stalking the two wings so that
| Of the locusts may be driven into the pit
| and buried, after the dew is of the
ground.-May 8, Mo. report" Ditching
| or trenchlng will come under this head;
and after the insects have commenced to
travel in schools, proper dItchIng is the
most effectual protection. ga ditch two
| feet wide and two feet deep, with perpen-
dicutar sides, offers an effectual barrier
| to the young insects. They tumble into
| it and accumulate, and die at the bottom
| in large quantities. In two days the stencil
| becomes great and necessities the cover
ing I'D of the mass. In order to keep the
main ditch open therefore, it ia best to dig
/ pits or deeper side bitches at short inter-
walls, into which the hoppers will accu-
mulItc and may be buried. Ibid". There
| will be much snap Judgment passed upon
dItching by those who employ it against
the very small and newly hatch ed locusts,
which more easily crawl up perpendIc.
ular bank than the larger ones; but 1
speak from past experience, and would
| urge all who are threatened, to employ
| this mode Of protection from now on.
Where the soil is tenacious, and water, or
q little kerosene can be used at the bottom,
all the better; and the side to the garden,
orchard, nursery or field to be protected,
should be Kept friable by means Of q small
rake. In proportion as the soil is loose
and apt TO fill up by strong winds, ditch
ing will fail.
| 4Catching. There are innumerable
mechanical cOntriVances for this purpose,
and have already some forty or tifty de-
signs. ] recommend, myself, as cheapest
and most satisfactory, those intended to
bag the insects. a frame two feet high
and of varying length, according as it is
to be drawn by men or horses, with Q bag
OF sheeting tapering behind, and ending
in smaller bag or tube-say one foot in
diameter and two or three feet long-With
| q fine wire door az the end to admit the
light and permit the dumping Of the in
sects-will be admirable work. The In
sects gravitate toward the wire screen,
and when :the secondary bag is full, they
may be emptied into . pit dug for that
purpose. These bagging machines will
| prove most serviceabIe when grain is too
high for the kerosene pans. The curious
| suction tanning machine, invented BY Mr..
j. g. King, OF Boulder, Col. may be mem
toned in this connection. A strong draft
sucks the insects up through an elongate
mouth with lips, that runs near the
ground, and draws them up through two