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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1910)
HIE BATTLE - WITH THE BUGS 1 -Zix &E&T E- f>UW£LL HKHE is as underworld not ttuc-d by novelist or ptay *ntM V« in It occur str*nce and often subtle dr» mi>» iA «rm»l ana d*-,:ruo t*a Nor is it a boiwHs oaderworld Ei ery evenhi; after a but sunset !t foms as orchestra abicfc sfcnlls (MR ha j-rou«*» and fiacats •*» r“*»*»g *rtn«bM.t And in alt the ucrld •S'" “ no -orbestra ao welt paid To be sure •* Uttlo in Ifar Mi’rr of attention. but in • aya nw* MiaUattai R i* re«tr<M han-1 •oweff. far it b permitted to lory toil uj«>n «bo «*l and the when*. the cabbage and the nppio. aa tkn grow It t* allbued to oat the joo*t> of the naliW and the grain dealer Cer ta*a members if tin* shrilling tribe go fanbor and liianand crmt.t na-i-oxt* in their (rood. K«« ODafcd wKh mart tribute. they <-u't i umax li«o* Tboir (nmanr ;nrk» aro male ■pun the ber* of ItoiV diiUnw Then from •dace* abort- pororty force* aomoe and ba Me* into filth and skkness. they take wins •nd tbor boar fbotr death m—i ari into hormr fair and clean—Unsoi shore tbo inmates ran «“* concora themselves aith life* wretched o*o» And an uiurt in bor inexorable circle front which neither tbo ironiot tor tbo |«t o«t can mcijo herself supplies tbo link a kith brine* tbo rUM-rabk homo to tbo fair id' But redone* R to a dollar* and coat* *•»*!» abiob all of us understand. wkat mould >o* say tbo mam# of this country n»t u« oach yoar* Million* of dollars* More ia fact than oor entire system at public school edu msb*. from tbo kindergarten to tbo uaiv.-r Mr! Moreover slide sections in'oadod by na l-r* *«■ tbo poudnetion of particular crops ofoa aro rompeOrd to abandon ibm for no «Rbor reason than insect infestation This is especially true of bortiruRnre. Myriad, in doed are tbo insect foe, that infest ve-etable# and fruit. 1? oror tbo life of this underworld U brought upon tbo stage as that of tbo barn yard has boon it may well open with this of tbo truck grume.*; «rsi* atfc «fB U pisam. %*» Lb* farmer ha* ftm^l hltnaelf tkte foe afcieh must be fourht • Kb *a< iiixmton mysteries. <3—y—i<r ha* appeased to I be maa r€ «y«y Kfaaca «mi*« despises ia the 4a? of K»?en!j Mat rushes to consult * Leu the aorM to *«tT. Ik* Me t*B <us of a hat has been amo pitshei by out bk with a nk-roseope His to StejAe* A Forties and he to state <rf litlmSi Hto chief mark la tbto patotina to to aaacrmiaate "economic in as tboae sUrt tositr the jcroainx ***** are called He to also bead of Use state laboratory of natural history and pro fesaar off ebtumoJay? to tbe I'niversity of ua aeSe He has held these offices, Z% years, abseb means that be bas sprat a <jaarter of a ftrt-ai* tbe predareoas instincts of ia occasional short tbe renaito ii-al instinct* of state JSatoaraDy be to oa tx.tima:e terms ant a fast number of bags Fee a practical knualedce of aa toseet. tbe aM9ty to reracalae K to ail it* phases to a mere besastoa Its dietary most be kaon. a*a oaiy «h«* K prefer* toe afcat it likes nest to** aa4 »har e arts eat to escape starvation; teo« tbe aeaiber alerts its hcaiik. ita temper. «* t*w a* todtiptrinc to » sabject to If oa. boa may it be *b» t to aell to kxtoa r*«ard It. Whether tbe of f aroaee* the instinct to protect or Tbe fcuetert to kiO. For there zro bass so kbflt iryaar i tostrf other bass that they »« then, to their food oapplv. hatch •to them and Int* ap their off dtotos they leave to those *V*t let ar trfl rwm aboot thr- 9skt ***** *» *» «**!«» kant. IV riuarfe * a 4trt4>iaMMr «knr rrfl iMaMlna ar» T******** Or F«r*»«* ctnicklcaH h!* mor tar a ti ri «n ■ i i *.*w4rt-'*'f Hr «h *t»a* 1° <k*t but to (on bat to bee Jtacr. The CCJlfi Jp007 APHO A/*0 /r-i ArrrnoA/rr A nr : Wfayed fema/e, -Vfi Wtny/fji ferxG/n. £$y cna Pupa of Apbii. and Worker Ant: _ first plan was to pre t- :;t the chinch with a contagious <!isea~e It had been ohseneJ that it was subject to a fuscous disease simi lar to that of the com mon house fir, which b ft the dead covered with a white mould. Why cot spread it? It was tried upon the university fields and the buss took it most obligingly and died most successfully. Be fore it could be con sidered more than an experiment, however, it was necessary to try it on a larger scale. u White Grub in its Four Stages : June Feet/e, Fgg. Grub and Pur v ' v jitters were sent among the farmers. asking for boxes of sound bugs. T1-.-^ : jgs »rr? to be given the disease and r> t jrr-»i with directions for spreading it. The r» s'<*nse was surprisingly immediate Boxes buss ;oi:r*-d into the express offices and yet mare boxes of bugs Farmers from neigh l*»ring stfes heard of the offer and they. too. • bug fcanting. The express companies worked overtime The assistants in the ento mo - -t - office became mere undertakers for ■ a iwi The mouldy bugs were sent out on • t - ir beneficent mission of destruction. Then the results came in. They varied; they did. in teed Some thought the entire entomolo gist « office should be fitted out with a golden, g rious halo as the rescuer of its country; ' *-j* ’* *•*»' thought a fools cap would fit the case more exactly. Bet although the disease project could not be called a complete success, means were f°wwd * hich make it possible to" raise grain even ia the very worst of the chinch out *.-Teaks. The harrier methods and sprays with a kerosene emulsion will catch them every •iae- Jus- after harvest the scarcity of food in *he wb^at fields arouses in the chinch an r ‘tire* to r grate. On foot it sets out to get an at petite for corn This is the time to make a r: t- iieween the infested field and the field *fe* chinch desires to infest. This is done by p -win* a backward furrow which is packed » 'h a tight roller or by hand and has a line '* ixr poured upon it from a can with a tuiaKar spout Post boles are dug at intervals of about twenty feet. By keeping the tar ~ * fr-sh his ohtnchsfcip cannot cross, but will f *lk»w It to the posthole, into which he speed - I- * ambles It then is merely pleasant recre aiion for the farmer to travel out and pour a weak solution of kerosene upon his accu mulated enemies Kerosene is an excellent death dealer for these pests. When they get into the cornfields the farmers of Illinois sally figik with an emulsion containing four per cent, of kerosene and half as much whale oil soap mixed by five minutes simple beating t a stick. This is flirted by hand upon the com la the cool of the day when the insects feed n<*t thoroughly and when there Is less dang-r of injury to the com. Sometimes a single application does the work; when the Infestation is very bad two and even three may be required. Now let us talk shout corn exclusively for * while With that staple at its present price and with the grave gentlemen who produce *-a:-!oic* >« hens produce eggs—the louder '■be cach ing, the smaller the statistic—assur ing ns tba- -t is on its lofty perch to stay, it seems that the farmer will have to cultivate automobiles and bad habits as obesity cures for his batk account. But. halt! Nature pro vides sevemh There is the weather, more ex asperatug ml with less regard for a poor man's purse than rich relatives on a visit, there is the fretful soil which gets sour like a colicky ba by. and there are sturdy, hun gry insect foes. Over two hun dred of these at tack corn, forty capable of doing notable damage. It is in discov ering the way to conquer a pair of these precious rascals that Dr. Forties has made his most valuable single contribution to sci ence. They are the corn field ant and the corn root-aphis or. as it is better known, the corn root louse. For a long time they were the particular scourge of the corn grower who supposed that they operated each on its own account. Through the research of Dr. Forbes it is now known that one is help less without the other. The resourceful and industrious ant is entirely unable to extract the coveted sap from the corn root, and the stupid aphis would, if left to itself, starve in the very presence of the corn. But the ant can carry the aphis to the corn root and de posit it thereupon; the aphis can extract the sap and then exude it, thus passing it on to the ant. Therefore it was not a problem of exterminating two foes but of outwittiug the clever little ant. Were it banished, the aphis would soon disappear. The wretched little soft-bodied hunk o' creation can do nothing for itself except lay eggs and suck corn sap. The ant gives it a home in its own burrows, hatches its eggs for it. carrying them to the warm surface if they are slow, bearing them farther into the ground if they threaten to hatch before Us food supply is ready. And this protection extends through the aphis' life. If. because of plowing or other inadvertence, the ant finds its charges scattered, it will cheerfully collect them and reconstruct its home if that has been molested also. The ant has nothing else to do and it is as active as an outraged Puritan conscience. However, methods of control have been found. The use of the disk and crop rotation will exterminate them. The root-aphis refuses entirely to oc cupy ground planted to oats, so this crop is of the greatest importance in clearing fields of them. Also by disking two or three times with a SO-lnch disk in spring, especially on a sunny day when the ants are likely to hare their charges near the surface, they will be killed and scattered and their nests so broken up that even the enthusiastic littie ant cannot reconstruct the colony. Another enemy of the corn that Hr. Forbes has caught by cultivation is the bill bug. as certain beetles are called because of their long, hard snouts, which they poke into the farmer's business to ruin it. This time the cultivation must be with the plow instead of the disk and in the autumn instead of spring and in the fields of grass where the bill bugs breed. These bugs are distinguished by a belligerency which is only equaled by their strength of claw. One variety appeared in Illinois which locked so large to the harassed farmers that it ww* christened "elephant bug.” Chickens turned i*to the fields to feast upon them fled in flapping, comical flight, unable to relieve their terrified souls by a squawk, as their bills were tightly held together bv the Corn Bill-dugs, Grub of same and Corn Plant J/lowing Gill-Bug Injury. encircling claws of »hat were meant to be their banquets. As for sprays, the bugs throve upon them. Dr. Forbes h&<i his assistants in the fields before it was found that plowing the infested grass in the autumn would practically do away with the pest. Of all the foes which the agricultu rist must fight, none presents a more dif ficult problem than the white grub. For one thing, there are many species. Illi nois has about thir ty—differing in hab its. but all endowed with an original and hard working brand of natural cussed ness. They attack plants at the roots, and it is not at all uncommon to find whole acres of grass where the sod can be rolled up like a carpet. to prei.wran.-v devastate grass. but if the supply is scant, they are aiding to ruin small strain, com. strawberry plantations, woodlands, and. indeed, many other situations. They are especially difficult to com bat because the life history is hard to follow from the first to the last stage. Only a sing.e specimen has been bred from the egg to the beetle and its life cycle occupied three years. So far the best remedy has been found to be in cropping, especially in planting the in fested ground to clover. VYell-known enemies of the white grub also are the festive porker, which will dig a foot for a nice fat one. and crows and crow blackbirds Occasionally a farmer notices that a field which has been brown from a grub ravage be comes green and alive. He is inclined to think it a clear case of the InrJ remembering the righteous: as a matter of fact another insect has appeared and is working out another set of instincts This is the Tiphia. a member of the solitary wasp family. It stings the grub into submission and then glues to its thick hide an egg which in a few days hatches into a veritable vampire. It sucks from its host its life juices, leaving the shell to crumble back to earth. Trees both those in natural forests and those which have been planted, “noble and helpless products of nature." to quote Hr. Forbes, are often dragged to a slow and un sightly death through Insect infestation. Have you never late in May or in June noticed upoa shade trees little wads of cotton? Each wad. you will see. if you look, projects from a brown cap. which is the female maple scale. It is a native insect parasite of the soft maple. It wi'd infest, besides the maple, the linden, bos elder, elm and honey locust. These cotton wads are the soft bed in which the careful female lays her eggs, and each female can be relied upon to deposit something like J.Wt' eggs in her own particular little wad. Hr. Forbes found after considerable experiment that a kerosene emul sion was effective in disposing of these pests. A Si* per cent, emulsion could be used its winter if the roots of the trees were protected, and a 10 per cent. In summer. It is made by dissolv ing one pound of common soap in one gwDoa of water by boiling This is removed from the fire and two gallons of kerosene poured in. With a spray pump the mixture is then forced hack into itself for about five minutes, when it will look like a thick cream, and no longer sepa rates on standing. Seventeen gallons of water added to the three gallons thus prepared will give a 10 per cent, solution. The cost will he 4.3 cents a gallon and three or four gallons will save a large tree from destruction. Doubtless yon have noticed upon the apples you brought home in a paper hag and those that fell from your own cherished tree n cres cent mark. This means that a busy little curculio has bad its beak in yo«r apple before too and has probably laid an egg at the sign of the crescent curcullos. A spray compound of 1?S ounces of acetate of lead and four ounces of arsenate of soda to fifty gallons of water, if used three or four times, will catch practically all these orchard destroyers. Among the Insects Injurious to health the common houselly takes first rank. Dr. Ftorbes has found that 75 per cent, of the common houseflies breed in horse manure. As the reme dies that wrtil kill the housefly maggots are too dangerous to be used in stabler, except boiling water, which is hardly practicable, the only protection seems to be tn screening stabies against f~.es as we do our houses and in careful city sanitation Would Surely Wear A Wig ft erer <li4.1 would not hesitate to sub stitute the lost growth with an appro priate trig. I argued that it was not only the correct thing to wear false teeth, when necessary, but foolish not to do ao. and by the same token false : hair was as correct, and that the ; %*§—• at scorn and ridicule should not be pointed at one more than another, m argument ihm| shod to me as It did to several others of my ac quaintances, and I think so yet. and so do they. However, when I was about forty my hair began to thin out little by little, and so quietljr that 1 scarce ly knew it was g<^ng. That Is the one redeeming trait of baldness. It comes to a man without any physical pain, • By the time I was fifty a wig would have hidden considerable lack of hair; but I did not get one. Somehow or other I didn’t think I needed it. There was net enough to comb, but the brush could still get hold, and 1 used the 1 brush exclusively. New I am sixty and my hair is still thinner, but not ; thin enough yet for a wig. Of course, if I were as bald as some of my friends are I would not hesitate, but I am not. Maybe at seventy I will feel the ne cessity, and if I do, you may rest as sured I will render nature all the assist ance in my power. A wig is all right for any one who needs it. and far be It from me to Join the rabble that scoffs at one, but why wear it unless one actually needs It? I don't know why wigs are held in such bad repute, for they are not only useful but orna mental, and as I said before I repeat now, that when I need one I shall put it on fearlessly and show the scoffers that I am above such small preju dioes.” Proof Positive. v ] v t Blox—Theorists are fools. . Knox—Is that your theory. Blox—Tea. Knox—Then we will let It go at that. _ _ — — / WAGON BED CONVERTED INTO DIFFERENT USES Agriculturist Hus Often Found It Hurdsblp to Be Obliged to Buy or Build Number of Vehicles Required on Form. A convertible wagon bed which can be changed Into la different kinds of ' bodies for different uses around a farm, without adding to it or taking from it a single piece, has been de signed and is undoubtedly the moot radical improvement made in farm wagons for a decade, says Popular Me chanics. In a few minutes it can be trans formed from a bay rack Into a wagon for carrying live stock, and with equal quickness It can be converted into a vehicle for carrying a large number of passengers who can be provided with i In a nl The agriculturist has often found ft a hardship to be obliged to buy or build a number of wagons for the multifari ous requirements Incident to the op eration of a farm. The wagon that could serve to carry boxes or crated vegetables and berries to market would not be of any use when haying time came around. When it was neces sary to carry calves or live stock, still another wagon must be called Into service. While reapers, threshers, and other farm implements have been continually improved, the farm wagon has re fn P] f A Wagon Bed of Many Use* comfortable seats along the sides for picnicking, etc. The remarkable versatility of the new wagon bed Is secured by hinged malleable iron pieces attached to the sides. These support two folding sec tions on each side. The strain which is put upon these pieces when heavy loads are placed on the wagon makes It imperative that they should be ol strong, dependable material. ] malned practically at a standstill. PeP baps the fact that the automobile has made such wonderful progress has ; served to overshadow the humble beast : of burden and his reliable wagon. Old Dobbin may be a second rater now, but he will continue for some time to S fill his particular sphere of endeavor with a faithfulness which the me ‘ tor car cannot always be relied upon i to give. RIDDING FARM OF GRASSHOPPER Favorite Remedy, Recommended By Colorado AfticnUoral Colicse Is Arsenic Bran Mash. (By S. ARTHUR JOHXSOX. Colorado Agricultural College. 1 In spite of the fact that a great deal of work has been done by exper lment stations on grasshoppers, ne royal road to control has yet beer found. Each attack has to be con siddted on its own merits and relief sought through the most promising channel One of the faTorlte remedies is ar senic bran mash. This is made by mixing one pound of white arsenic with 25 pounds of bran. The ar senic Is so near the color of the flour In the bran that It Is not easy to tell when the mixing Is well done. To overcome this difficulty, the arsenic may first be collected by adding a lit tle dry paint. After the bran and arsenic are wei! mixed they should be moistened with water. Put in Just enough to make the panicles stick together. This mixture should be scattered where the grasshoppers are thickest. If the Insects are Invading a garden or potato patch, it is well to scatter the bran mash about the borders. In the fields of alfalfa or grain, the bran should be scattered where the grasshoppers congregate on ditch banks and dry places. All the in sects will not find and eat it. but many will and often the crop can be fairly well protected. The writer never used this preparation against young grasshoppers, but some tanners state that the crops may be completely pro tected by its use, while others that they will not eat in Of course, ft will not do to scatter his substance where chickens will be likely to pick it up. and none of the mixture must be left where do mestic animals are apt to get It or be fed from the vessel. Good Exercise. There is no harm in pigs rooting If they are in a field where rooting will do no harm. Pigs can secure much feed by rooting and the exercise will do them good- Where troublesome roots infest the soil they will often eradicate them tf allowed to do so. The fattening hog should not be al lowed to root, as the exercise con suraes too much feed and energy. THE DRAINS IN CLAY SOIL §§w m Jre'neJ toil » umJraineJ Sci l GE ” *w/ ueinsimeJ mIm iire ins «r« fSf fleet epertt Met* A»'W «i«a Hep ere St feet ejert The illustration shown herewith ts from a bulletin of the Ontario De partment of Apiculture and shows how the water table of the soil de pends on the location of drains. IT tn a field that ts underdrained three feet deep a number of holes are dug ft would be obeerred after a be**? rain that tn those nearest the drains no water would remain. In the hole sit uated half-war between the drains at C would bold considerable water for a few days. tn a da? tn fairty good coodttlou tt will be found that the slope of the water table ts about l foot tn 35. in loam 1 foot tn about 33. The illus tration represents a day with drains A and R 100 feet apart. Wells are dug 13 a feel apart. At the end of 1$ hours after a heavy rain the water will stand about as indicated by zig-aag lines, tn a gradient of about 1 tn 25. and hence trill be two feet deeper in the centre well than at eith er drain. Hence if the drains are three feet deep there will be three feet of drained soil over A and B. bat only one foot at X. Capillarity and poll resistance to water to* play an important part in holding the water highest half way between the drains, and the gradient 1 tn 25 represents their combined strength In day. hence after this gradient ts reached drainage becomes very, very slow, and the water table stands tn this Irregu lar shape until lowered by evaporation from the soil and plants. But during the months of April. May and some times Juno, when the rains supply at the surface all tha water Beaded for evaporation. none is drawn from be. low for this purpose, hence during esrty months of growth the water stands as indicated by the dotted line AXR Consequently root development i » *s*™?«red « X. as 1 hot of son not enough. There are two way, tc remedy the defect, either to dig a and B deeper or else put a drain at C way between. Value of Birds. A French naturalist asserts that a the world were to become birdless le Bine years’ time man could no longe* inhabit ft. This seems a* Terr sweep tag statement at first glance, bve when we come to reflect upon tfc* matter we find that ft is doubtless a tree one. Insects and slugs would multiply so fast, notwithstanding all the sprays and poisons that could be manufactured to annihilate them, that they would destroy the orchards, fop ests and crops. The land would b* come one vast desert. Farm Problems. prob*ra or agriculture U to show how a farm may be made to pay a reasonable return on the iET ' mem and on the labor perform^ Tn tafT"** U ^ weli known that 2 farm can be made to rav * well, but throughout the lenc-H, breadth of theatre ttJTK ^ fnl lack of knowledge * tae «1 * prod««« suc^ would throw thu n.r.« . . ** i nan Into d—peh. bualneag