New-York tribune., 1903-01-18

FUNGI TO KILL LOCUSTS.
NEW METHOD OF FIGHTING DEsTRUC-
TIVE INSECTS.

Recent experiments with new mode % fight
ing Iocusts illustrates afresh the principle OF
using one pest to overcome another. LadybUgs
perform a useful work in chewing up plant Hcs,
or aphides Another genus of the same insect
is now believed to be fatal to the San Jose
SCALE which is injurious to fruit trees.
caterpillar has been found in Italy which can
be employed to suppress black scale which af.
fects the olive and citrus trees and is thus OF
value in California. Then there is the chnch-
bug which attacks young wheat. and which Is
therefore one Of the most formidable enemies
the farmer has to contend with. To deal with
this it has been proposed to use a fungus be-
longing to the genus SpOrotrichurn. Partial
success has attended this venture, but IT is TOO
soon to pronounce a final verdict its merit
other fungi have been tried on disease which
besets cotton and the cowpea, but not with sat
isfactory results. An entirely different method
is now employed to get around the trouble, so
far as cotton and the cowpea are involved
Finally. the possibility Of antagonizing with
fungus the locust, or grasshopper, which some
years is terribly destructive in wheat growing
regions is being investigated by American en-
tOmOlOgists-
It was known as long ago as 1SSS that one
species of fungus belonging to the genus En-
pusa, destroyed house flies, mosquitoes, midges
and gnats while another species would kill
grasshoppers and certain caterpillars- Between
1896 and 1899 efforts were made to utilize this
fact aggressively in South Africa Cultures Of
fur gus were made, these were prepared in
a liquid form, several grasshoppers were caught
immersed in the fluid and liberated where they
would Join a swarm, and in day or two large
numbers were found dead. 1t now appears that
two different genera were effective in South
Africa, the EmpusR and certain mucors- What
proves to have been third genus, SporotrichuTn.
was discovered killing 1ocusts in the Argentine
Republic in 1897, although the species which
did the work is not the same that has been
tried with the chinchbug. Altogether. then
there seem to be at least three different varieties
that can be used in this way. Cultures made
by DR. L. o. Howard, chief entOmolOgist OF the
Department of Agriculture, in Washington
were distributed in number of places in the
United States in 1901 and 1902 for experimental
use.
The user was to take small sample mix IL
with sweetened water, and raise a crop Of his
own. With the liquid thus obtained he could
smear a few grasshoppers. and then release
Them or he could put it on damp ground where
the insects were liable to aIight and feed. He
might also grind up a lot of insects that had
died in consequence, mix them with sugar and
water, and put this bait on bread other food
The results thus far secured do not Justify
unbounded confidence, DR.. Howard says, but he
has not yet finished his Investigations. Some OF
the samples sent out were not used in many
places the weather not favorable and there
are other reasons for feeling that a positive
conclusion cannot yet be reached Thus far.
however, the cultures Of SporOtrichUm seem to
have been the most effective, and greater sue
cess is apparently realized in moist regions than
in the dry, arid country where the grasshOppers
are most destructive. Perhaps some new method
of applying the remedy may work better than
those hitherto tried
Just how the fungus operates cannot be def
nitely told. The bureau refers to it Officially as
a disc .se.'' perhaps because of the close
analogy between fungi and bacteria, which lat
ter vegetable growths of an exceedingly low
order.