The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-06-28
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
LUyERNE. Rock COUNTY.
June 2lst, 1877.

y
try in southwest Minnesota and north
ern Iowa. / was rejoiced to find the
crops all along my line OF travel look |
ing SO we'll. l have been nowhere but |
where they had fight with grass
hoppers and as general rule, with
few exceptions, the farmers have pre-
served their crops.
ssOur crops are so good round here
said one farmer to me, ''that we can
afford to give all the grasshoppers left
with us, as much as they can take and
still have fifteen bushels of wheat to
the acre
1t has been clearly demonstrated
that farmers can, with necessary pre-
cautions, fight the grasshoppers
Matched out, either on a mans own
farm or in his immediate neighbOr-
hood, but of course, for the next two
or three weeks there will be great
anxiety felt in regard to the probable
fight of grasshoppers.
Clean land, fall blowing, backset-
ting, new breaking, not having one
acre of dirty land on the farm, hop
perdozing and ditching around the
tillage fields; these are the means, and
successful ones. for preserving the
crop from the grasshOppers Matched
out on mans own farm, or from the
army of tramps that may come into
him from his neighbors. In every
instance, / have seen. where the crop
of farmer, was almost destroyed,
there W az n;the~ Il field, not plOwed
last fall and left uncultivated, or a
piece of new breaking not backset
last fall.
On Sunnyside farm Sioux county
Iowa. In which GeneraSJ. w. Bish
OPP is interested, and of which he has
exclusive supervision, l witnessed a
grand battle between farmers and
grasshOppers, in which the farmer
came off victorious. after hard strug-
gle.
Geo. III. Gardner. and Ed. Winslow,
the former having in charge five
hundred acres of land under crop,
adjoining his own farm;-have pur-
chased portions of the Sunnyside farm
lin all it comprises kl3,OOO acres) and
are frst-class careful farmers.
Late and early they have had the
hopperdozer lively at work on their
damage is little perceptible, but, on
the morning of the 18th of this month,
when i'm company with General Bish.
op, | visited Sunnyside farm, it was
discovered that an invading army of
grasshoppers Matched out on neigh
bor's unplowed field. was advancing in
full force. Then the boys went to
work with will and put UP breat
works between their crops and the
invaders.
These breast works consisted of two
bitches at right angles, having holes
at certain distances and made very
rapidly with 4 post augur; ut the an
gle where the bitches met was deep
square hopper grave.
On they came hoped into the ditch
es, although they could have easil,
hoped over them. followed along tn,
trenches, fell into the holes by thous
ands and finally into the big. squar
hole that must have had four or tiv
bushels of grasshoppers in it, by tn
time General Bishop and l rode up.
When once they fall in there is II
escape for them, not even when tn
hole is full. for they get tangled int
huge ball that appears to keep roll
ing and rolling around.
At two o'clock that day. the battl
was nearly over and the grangers vi,
torious. OF course many of tn
grasshoppers had escaped into tn
fields, but. not enough to do any ser
Gus injury.
1t must be impressed upon tn
MINDS OF our farmers. that graSSho]
per or no grasshopper. they shoul
make permanent bitches round thei
tillage fields, they can be made at lit
expense and In most eases will he
service to the land.
With the hopper oozer the farm,
can destroy the hoppers that ma
hatch ont on his own farm. when the
are quite small. If he keeps his lar
we'll cultivated and clean. plows Ii
old land, and hack-sets his new hrea
ing in the fall. his task will not
heayy-and his bitches will enab
him to manage the grasshoppers TIL
may come in from hisneighbors farr