The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1894-05-24
Moscow. IpAno. MAY -.

Moscow, IDAHO, May II, III
EDITOR WEIsER SIGNAL:=Your
inquiry as to the feasibility of intro
ducing contagious insect diseases to
destroy the super abundant crickets
of Idaho has recently been received
In reply, perhaps the best thing |
can do is to give you IL little sketch
of the progress that has been made
in using these diseases in those places
where the most attention has been
given them.
Perhaps the first experimenter was
Professor Lugger, of the Minnesota
experiment station. In the summer
of 1888 chinch bugs were very album
dant in Minnesota, but after a time
he noticed that they were dying about
the station in large numbers, and
shortly after death were covered
with a white, mouldy outgrowth.
Collecting quantity of these dead
bugs, he sent packages of them to
several points in the state, directing
the recipients to scatter them among
the living bugs On a railroad trip
through the state, as he himself re-
lated to me, he took the opportunity
to spread the infected. bugs, when
the train stopped, from station to
station In the course Of a fortnight
, the disease broke out in all those
parts of the state and spread until
the bugs were almost eXterminated
before the end of the season. OF
4 the death of the bugs there could be
: no doubt whatever, but of course it
, might be argued that the disease
would have broken out anyway with
out the distribution of infected bugs
On this point no proof could be OBJ
tanned.
In the following year there was a
4 general lessening of the number of
t chinch bugs in all that section of the
United States where they had been so
frequently injurious, and in Illinois
and other states it was noticed that
Y Il disease of the bugs caused their
9 decrease. S. A. Forbes, state ento-
mologist of Illinois, thereupon car
ried out an exhaustive series of in
vestigations of the subject of cnch
bug diseases. To him we owe much
of our exact knowledge of them. He
u found three forms two character
d lied by mouldy outgrowth on the
re insect after death Fungus diseases
d the other produced by bacteria and
&c not possessing these symptoms.
About the same time +. H. Snow,
" chancellor of the University of Kan
T. sas, and an etymologlst of wide rep.
lg utation, began to experiment on the
il practical side of the question. By
or care and attention he succeeded il
49, keeping the disease germs alive al
winter. In the spring, by frequent,
~ exposing fresh bugs to the disease
I'll he had constant source of infection
II. from this he sent out small quantitie
III of bugs to a great many farmers, re
- questing each to use them to infec
" others, turn all loose in the fields an,
re casefully watch the results. TIL
gu very marked success of the expert
US ment led tie state to make an appro
priation for its continuance, and it
now a well established undertaking
As | Witnessed all the operations las
June, | may briefly describe ther
81 for your readers. Infected bugs al
lily sent to all on application, but the al
oh plicant must in all cases send in
Be- box of hundred or so of live chine
IL bugs, these being to keep up the SUI
SO ply of live bugs at headquarters
ere These bugs, supposedly healthy, al
me placed in ''infectng boxes, eac
ch about five feet long, two wide an
in one high, made as tight as possible
lay In each box are placed hill {
age freshly cut corn and a quart (
he healthy bugs, and the whole liberal
will sprinkled with water -Four dei
ac- bugs with the mould on are then p
p in and the box closed In two
lat three days all the bugs inside are a
fected and may be sent out to intr
duce the disease elsewhere In
= va few more days, if left undisturbe
y, they are all dead and mouldy. Sc
'ne eral hundred packages were Sc
out daily, each recipient being
structed to use the few bugs sent a:
\. means of injecting large numbt
for which were to be scattered about t
Co. farm before they had chance
Co., die; thus they would carry the d
ON ease among the living bugs.
cent The results are uneven. Sol
cases of apparent failure are reportt
ON but on the whole the success is su
as to repay hundred fold for I
expense and trouble In a lal
gon. number of cases the effect is SIM
magical; in week from the int
duction of the disease not live
can be found for a mile or so arou
iueI- the place. At times it has bt
: Of. found almost impossible to
t, the enough live bugs to keep the inf
The ton boxes running. 1t appears t
nuns two or three elements are essen
T, The to success. The bugs must be v
numerous and the weather must
be too dry. Heat is also favorabl
oSer' Passing now to consider the pr
80 tical application to Idaho, there