The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1919-06-13
INSECT ENEMIES

Grasshopper plaques date back to
biblical days. In India the grass
hoppers attack and eat up the crops
and in turn, the starving people at
tack and eat up the grasshoppers.
AS this is an appetite that we have
not as yet acquired, we prefer to at
tack and destroy these pests by other
means.
The most practical and successful
method of combating grasshoppers
is by broadcasting the following bran
mash early in the morning before
sun-up, especially along the ditch
banks and fence rows:
Coarse bran, 1925 pounds; cheap
molasses, two quarts; white arsenic
one pound, orange or lemons, three;
water two and half gallons.
Mix thoroly bran and white arsenic
in dry state. Add syrup to water.
Chop fruit up fine or run thru
grinder and add to the liquid. Add
gradually the liquid mixture to the
dry mixture, stirring thoroly. The
consistency of the mash should be
moist and crumbly so that it can be
readily broadcasted, but there should
be no large chunks.
When the young grasshoppers are
first noticed, do not delay in broad
casting your poison mash, as it Is
much easier to, poison them before
they are able to fly. A second broad
casting is advisable week to ten
day after the first.
Grasshoppers lay their eggs about
one inch below the surface of the
ground along neglected fence rows,
and in grass grown and weedy fields
from the middle of August until
frost. Fall blowing, thoro disking
or narrowing in fall or early spring
before the eggs hatch, will break up
and destroy most of these egg
masses. Community work counts in
poisoning grasshoppers the same as
In poisoning squirrels.
Cabbage Worms
The greatest insect injury to cab
bage is caused by either the imported
cabbage worm, which is the velvet
green caterpiller Of the white butter
fly so commonly seen around gard
ems, or the cabbage looper, which is
a greenish worm striped with whitish
lines. The presence Of these worms
can be recognized by the riddled ap-
pearance of the leaves and by the
presence of considerable crumbly.
greenish excrement. If the gardner
has only few plants, Manipulating
e. hnc 10 pid nf
worms. Where large patches are in
volved, the following arsenical spray
is recommended:
Lead arsenate paste, 2 pounds or
lead arsenate powder one pound,
water fifty gallons, soap two pounds.
Use any cheap, soft yellow soap
to make the spray stick to the leaves.
Dissolve soap in little boiling water
and add enough water to make fifty
gallons. Add lead arsenate to this
water. Mix thoroly. The mixture
should be kept agitated while using,
to prevent the. lead arsenate from
settling This same spray will kill
worms attacking the leaves of other
plants, as turnips, beets, etc.
CaDDage ApnlOS
These are the "cooties" of the cab
bage patch. When the cabbage
leaves begin to curl, look for the
Coolies" on the under side and in
the axil of the leaves. Sprinkle
thoroly with handfulls of fine dry
dust. 1t may be necessary to repeat
this treatment once or twice later
before the pests are eliminated.
To handle large patches, spray be-
fore the leaves curl with "Black-leaf
49," using one part to 1000 parts Of
water. This same spray will kill
aphids (plant lice) attacking the
leaves and shoots of other plants.
If both cabbage worms and aphids
are present, mix the lead arsenate
spray and the "Black-leaf 40" spray
and apply at the same time.
Preservative Treatment Of Fence
=. Posts
One of the big expense bills that
the Idaho farmer pays annually is for
fence posts. Numerous tests extend
ing over many years show that this
heavy expense may be cut in two by
preservative treatments which will
lengthen the life of wooden posts to
twenty-five years.
The kind of posts to treat should
depend largely on thir price. In gen.
eral, the posts to be treated should
be those near at hand, or those which
may be secured at small cost.
Preservative treatment not only
lengthens the service of the fence
post wood now commonly used, but
it also makes possible the use of
many common softwoods COTTON
wood, soft maple, ash,) which here
tofore have been considered worth
less Many of these inferior solft
woods actually have an advantage
over the harder woods, since they
take in preservative more rapidly.
The quality and amount of preserva-
tive is piece Of wood, and not the
wood itself, determines largely the
length of service of treated timbers
A four-inch post of the less durable
native woods, after a good treatment
with creosote, will last practically as
long aS a Sayen-inch noct and in