The Ward County independent., 1920-04-08

hopper eggs. 1t will be seen that a
small percentage of the eggs depos-
tied last fall will not hatch because
of the attack of some other insects.
An Early and Uniform Campaign
Needed
Last year in North Dakota many
of the counties were forced to buy
huge quantities of arsenic, bran, mo-
lasses and fruit, and feed these ma
terials to the grasshoppers. The
poisoned bran worked fine as fas as
it went, but the main difficulty was
the fact that we got started too late,
and in many cases did not get enough
of the poison to 60 round the first
time. In order that we may be better
prepared this year than last it would
seem advisable for some searching
for eggs and young hoppers be done
during the next few weeks. Hopper
eggs are more readily found along
| the roadside, at the edge of the sod
made by the ditch. They are in the
ground to maximum depth Of 1-2
inches, and may be easily located with
the help of a heavy fork, an old jack
knife or small 3-cornered mason's
trowel Eggs are also deposited in
the firm ground along the fence rows,
railroads, headlands and meadows,
and may be found in stubble fields
placed in the roots of the stubble.
Due to the fact that several species
of grasshoppers common to the north
west are so apt to fly or to migrate
at least short way, we. must con-
slider some unified method of con-
trolling them. If grasshopper eggs are
located over township or over
county the only resource we have,
against this pest is a countrywide
campaign. The poisoning of one field
in the center of an infested area can
not be of as much, benefit as if the
other fields in the area were poisoned,
and at approximately the same time.
In other words, when the grasshop-
pers are flying from one field to an
ether all fields must be poisoned at
approximately the same time. forAif
this is not done a man determined to
save his crop will be forced to poi
son time and again.
The North Dakota Grasshopper Law
In North Dakota, we have very
good law, commonly spoken of as the
grasshopper law. If 10 per cent of
the legal electors of any county pc
tition the county commissioners on or,
before the July meeting of the board
then this board shall levy a tax, not
to exceed l 1-2 mills and in so do
ing shall create fund to be known
as grasshopper determination fund.
With this money the county commits
sioners shall buy poison and other
materials needed to poison the grass
hoppers. The commissioners shall be
guided in the purchase of these ma
terials by the recommendations of the
state agricultural college and by the
federal department Of agriculture.
The county board shall give notice in
ali local papers of the county of the
time when the poison may be obtain
ed and of the places in the county
from where it will be distributed.
At the time that the poison is given
out, legal description of the land to
be poisoned shall be kept and the COM
missioners shall prepare printed in
structions in accordance with recon-
mendations of the state agricultural
college and the federal department
of agriculture. These instructions
shall clearly set forth methods of mix
ing and applying the poison.
The commissioners shall obtain q
list of land not poisoned and it shall
be their duty to employ men to poi
son this land. All owners, renters
and lesees of land residing in county
shall apply for and use the poison
materials as per the instructions Civ
en- them at the time. All owners,
renters or lesees Of land in this coun-
ty shall provide means for their land
to be poisoned in strict conformity
Of this law: and if any of these peo-
pie, either living in the county or not,
shall fail to poison his fields, they
shall be guilty of misdemeanor and
will be subject to fine Of not less
tsan $4,000 nor more than $4,000, or
may be jailed for short time.
As stated before, this is good law
and is extremely workable. but no
law is better than the people who use
it, and while this law provides for q
county wide campaign, it is not the
campaign itself.
The Working Organization
After it has been ascertained that
q county will be forced to go into q
one man should be chosen
or appointed to have charge of this
work for his township or community.
The local farm bureau community man
may be the man for this job, or one
Of the township officials. He should
see that all his neighbors get Just
share of the materials and should also
see that his township receives its share
Of the materials. He should also help
the county agent or commissioners,
in determining what land has not been
poisoned. He should not be asked to
do all this without pay, but should re-
ceive money for hk services.
Whenever possible, the materials
used should be mixed before they are
to the farmers, for it has