DEVOURING GRASSHOPPERS. ATTACK EVERYTHING GREEN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 32, 7 February 1908, Page 4

DEVOURING GRASSHOPPERS. ATTACK EVERYTHING GREEN.

The grasshopper pest has caused wholesale destruction to grass and crops in all parts of the Singleton (N.S.W.) district. Couch grass, corn, and melon vines appear to be theu- favourite fodder, but in the absence of the3e they w ill tackle anything, c\ r en the stinking castor oil bush. At White's Falls they trimmed the corn and lucerne, also the melon find grape- vines. Cornstalks are attacked at tbe bottom, and when perforated the. stalk falls to the ground and the whole is quickly devoured by myriads of tho pest. The leaves are eaten off th© melon vines right up to the. thick stalk attached to the melon, and the loaves of the grape vifi«s aiv, also consumed. All the leaves are taken off the lucerne, also th& green bark on the stems, leaving them white. The same distressing conditions exist at Maison Dieu. At one part the grasshopper lay inches d«ep. ~ A farmer a-t Dight's Crossing went to l<^ok at some melons, and saw nothing but stalks of vines and whole melons on the ground. He cut some of the melons' to see- if they were ripe, but found they were not. He went to another part of the field to havo a look at a second patch of melons, and when ha returned discovered that the gra&s-lioppers • in his absonee of a f?w minutes had oaten the inside out of the melons which he had cut. Having eaten bare all vegetation in tho vicinity of tho town, tho insects invaded tho streets and dwelling places The pest has now been in the- district for several' months, and no sooner docs 0110 swarni disappsar than another takes its place. Some good falls of rain occurred in November and December, and tho grass showed a nice shoofc; but it was <Tnly temporary. The grasshopper? have eaton every blade. The- onslaught On the lucerne crop is serious, as mosi of the hay in this district is made from lucerne. With no grass and the destruction of the principal fodder crop, together with the loss of corn, pumpkins, potatoes, cabbages, and grapcf, farmers and dairymen are bring hit all round, and prospects for the coming winter are gloomy.