The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-07-12

lCrnAfemak6 COu16o LAG "a "a sA~S
whose fields are swept clean by the
nest Nicaraguan planters report the
passing of the third year W1tnout
1 crops. From San Miguel, high up
In the mountains of San salvador,
! comes the plant of the natives among
whom famine stalks. because grass
hoppers swarm SO thickly as to smut
out the sun and leave no vegeeat1on
alive.
in places for three years. This sea-
son it is more formidable than ever
before, and the reserve supplies OF
/ food have been exhacsted. mere
[fs no question but what hunger IS
1 pinching many thousands OF people
and that deaths are occurring every
day as result of 1t.
Representatives of Central Amert-
can countries have applied to the
United States for advice as to how TO
meet the situation. Those small ma
| lions have been without the power
of developing great SCIENTIFIC bureaus
for the study of such matters as
combating insect hosts. such as nave
devastated great areas of the globe
through all history. Uncle sam mas
1 taken thought as to these matters and
/ has found ways out. He has placed
\ the information he has develered al
the disposal of the representatives OF
i the little sister republics.
\ He has told the Latin Americans
4 that grasshoppers do not breed In
/ cultivated ground, and that culttva-
ton is a preventative, but this IN
formation is not of great value In
this case, for the grasshoppers breed
| in the Jungle. He has told them
how his farmers build hopperdozers
wild drags carrying pan OF kero-
Isene-and how they go into the fields
with these and kill great numbers or
the insects. But hopperdozer would
be of no importance where a file OF
grasshoppers ten miles wide and four
inches thick were sweeping through
4 settlement like million men IN
arms.
Methods of poisoning have been
/ developed by the federal experts,
however. that are so effective and so
cheap that they may be applieN Over
4 great areas and in fighting the laD:S-
Il est plaques. Most of these potsons
have Paris green as basis. II one
1 should take pound of Paris green
Il for instance, mix 1t with pound OF
II salt and half barrel of manure.
he would have delicacy of which
II the grasshopper is Unfortunately fond
and in sufficient quantity that ne
l might kill tons of them. Paris green
and wheat bran favored with bit
4 of cheap molasses and fruit JUICE
4 is another formidable mixture.
II The federal bureau of entomology
has supplied the representatives or
Latin American governments with
these recipes and the detail OF their
III application and heavy shipments or
1 material are on their way South.
4 The nature of the campaign OF the
4 grasshoppers are well known. me
81 mothers of the broods go Into the
wild lands in the autumn and there
i bury themselves in the munk and
/ Law many eggs. When the spring
/ time comes myriads of little ones
emerge and start on their pilgrim
ages. From jungle may come
column miles wide of those baby
grasshoppers whose wings are still
undeveloped.
Their only mode of locomotion is
by the hopping process. Steadily the
swarm advances, devouring all in its
II track. When a stream intervenes the
grasshoppers plunge into 1t until
enough have sacrificed themselves to
make bridge for those that follow.
Whatever obstacles are placed In
4 their way are smothered by numbers.
Man has a difficult task in opposing
| them. Belts of poison in their track
is the best method so far developed.
Later in the season, the grass
hoppers take to wing. They may
|; pass over in droves that darken the
l sun and that require hours In the
process They may come to eartn
where no preparation has been made
for fighting them and begin the pro
'fcess of devouring whole countrysides.
The United States government is
L now fighting grasshoppers In New
England and in the alfalfa fields OF
the West 1t has not. however, had
a great emergency to meet since the
DAYS OF 1874 and the two seasons that
| followed. At that time the western
erasshopper, or Rocky mountain
u migratory locust. swarmed down on
the states of Nebraska, Kansas and
Missouri in uncounted millions and
inflicted damage estimated at $780,
100000.
meeting a swarm of these grasshop-
pers which obscured the sun, and
1 through which they might get peeps
at the sky by firing shotguns loaded
with dust shot. The swarm persisted
for days, swept the prairie like
| fire and were added to the bill OF
I fare of the troopers, who professed
great fondness for them.
4 Professor Charles Valentine Riley
was at that time entomologist for
the state of Missouri He went forth
on the cowcatcher of an engine to
Il gather specimens and his train ran
q into a swarm of grasshoppers. He
came near losing his life as re-
suit of the pelting that resulted. He
was saved by the fact that the train
was forced to come to halt because
Il crushed grasshoppers had made the
!, track SO slippery that the engine
| could not pull 1T.
This same Professor Riley was az