The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-13

north. There will be millions and
millions of these hopping locusts, and
when they fry they darken the sun.
'The size of the locust swarms va
ries,'' said Dr.. Smith. Sometimes
they may cover but a few acres, and
at others they may shade the land FOR
many square miles. ! recently pass
ed through a locust swarm on a rail-
road train. For more than an hour
we rode through a cloud of lOcusts
which extended far out on both sides
Of the car. 1t was almost two hun
dred feet high The locusts were not
in one solid mass and as they flew they
looked like a SnewstOrm, their trans
parent wings catching the sun, and
having the appearance OF SnOWflakeS.
After a time we passed out Of that
swarm, and into another. The latter
| was thick, for the locusts were about
| to settled own for the night. They
usually stop overnight. This last
swarm was about two thousand feet
wide, fifty feet high and a mile long.
When 1 saw it in the distance it was
coming. and l asked the porter about
the cloud. He replied that the cloud
! was the "langosto," or locust. A
| little later our cars dashed into the
swarm and l found he knew what he
was talking about. The locusts were
flying high enough not to affect the
movement Of the train. and we went
right through them This is not al
ways possible. When they fly near
| the ground they sometimes cover the
track and the cars crush them, max
ing the rails SO greasy that the wheels
will not catch. They just fly around
and around while the cars stand still
In such cases two Of the brakemen
often sit on the cowcatcher, holding
brooms on the rails to brush the
lOcusts as the cars move. Sometimes
they sand the rails to make the train
IgO. The swarm Of which l spoke SO
dimmed the light SO that we seemed to
be travelling under tent and not in
the Open"
| l asked Mr.. Smith to give me some
word pictures of the locusts in action
He replied:
They are very much like our grass
hoppers, but are about twice as large
Their general color is gray and they
look like small birds as they fly
through the air. They are not dan
gerOus, but when they fly low and hit
iyou in the face it is annoying The
lOcusts are prolific and a great part
| Of the damage is caused not by the
grown-ups but by the babies AS
!. they move over the country the fe-
males bore holes in the ground with
their tails and lay eggs there. Each
$ female will lay bag Of from fifty tl
a hundred eggs and month or sc
e later these will have Matched out into
/ young lOcusts who crawl out and be.
e gin their devastating march. Thei,
r parents have already eaten up the
t most OF the crop and the babies ea1
n what has grown up in the meantime
: They crawl and hop over the ground
|. consuming everything as they go
q They go in great hordes, climbins
oy16
n Habenicht told me that they ate tn
4 lace curtains from his windows, an(
- that they sometimes attack the ba
q bies andbit them until the blood run
- from the little ones ears. AS soo1
as their wings grow they fly away"
Where do the locuSts come from :?
ii / asked MIR. Smith.
No one knows. Some say they ar
IL from Brazil. some from Bolivia, som
le fromParaguay and the Argentin
le Chaco. We only know that they com
6: from the north and northwest The
"a come in August and September. The
lie get as far south as the provinces Q
At Salta and Jujui and the territories G
We FOrmOSa and Chaco, and from ther
ne they spread over the republic. Afte
ne a time there are other swarms form
to ed by the young Matched from egg
a iett py the first swarms, and as tn
IN weather grows warmer there are sti
al other swarms until the whole territor
ID. Is overrun. 1t seems to me that til
ch only way to combat the locusts is b
he going to the country of their origi
es and studying their life history ther
he Scientists should investigate the biz
he Ioelcal nAStory or the insect in Bol
via and Brazil, and seek to find son
means OF prevention. AS it is we al
:. fighting them as best we can, but v
10 are working in the dark
~ What means are used to combs
'e- the pest??"
ny I've have lo,c h.d low. ror =,
he exterminaion oS locusts ard ,ha ca
a. eminent is now spending from one
III five million dollars a year in fightil
'ns them. We attack them in the swarm
and in the egg, and when travelling
young over the country. - The file
rip are caught i'm bags and cloths duri
tn the hours of low temperature and d
ng. Stroyed The places where tn
'ou settle are fired. and where they ha