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MENNONITE EXPERIENCE.I have before me a paper translated from the Russian (“On the means of Destroying the Grasshopper,” by V. Motsehulksy, published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1858), which presents an interesting synopsis of the methods practiced in Southern Russia, including those occupied by the German or Mennonite colonies.In the autumn, as soon as the labors of tillage permit, the people, provided with sharp sticks or hoes for turning up the ground, proceed to collect and destroy locust eggs. If the eggs are deposited in the fields or sandy plains where ploughs and harrows can pass, the latter are made use of. The egg-tubes are poured into sacks and measured, the authorities paying a bounty of ten cents for every pint collected. If, after a hot summer, the fall and winter are equable, the search is renewed in the spring. After the young locusts appear in the spring, parties with flat wooden shovels are detailed to surround the plain where the broods appear, destroying them and burning any residue. In addition, rollers made of timber and fixed on iron or wooden axles, and drawn by horses or oxen are, sent from point to point, wherever any mass of insects have escaped the above precautions. Besides the rollers, as the insects acquire the use of their wings, the use of bags is found advantageous—commencing the patrol of the fields at daylight aad continuing until the morning dew is dried up. After the swarms commence their flights, every plantation is as far as possible protected by smudges in the manner described above by Locher.
Newspaper Details
The Saint Cloud Journal
Saint Cloud, Minnesota, US
Thu, Sep 03, 1874
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jennifer P.
USA 28 Feb 2024
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