1-27 



NOTES FEOM LIVINGSTON AND ADJACENT COUNTIES. 



Dr. F. W. Goding, of x\ncona, Livingston county, acted during 

 the season as a local observer for the office, and from his notes and 

 letters the following data are gleaned : 



May 16, wirewoems were found in great numbers in recently 

 planted corn, eating the root sprouts of the kernels ; in no case 

 attacking the young plant. They were found in about fifteen per 

 cent, of the hills examined, in some cases so affecting the corn as 

 to necessitate replanting. The injury continued for about two weeks, 

 during which the weather remained dry and clear, but complaints 

 ceased with the appearance of the first rains. 



Grasshoppers were first noticed in abundance, feeding upon corn, 

 on the 29th of June, at which time they were still in their larval 

 stage. "July 23, I called at Mr. D. Rice's where the insects w^ere to 

 be seen by the millions, — in the pupa stage, usually."' 



"There were several species, the greater number being Pezotettix 

 femur-rahruin, F. atlanis and P. hivittatus, mature. In the field we 

 examined them carefully. As the mower, in its work, gradually de- 

 creased the area of standing grass, the insects accumulated in 

 such numbers that the field was blackened, while the grass 

 was crushed to the earth. Millions upon millions were to be 

 found. The hay- cocks were covered so closely that the forks in the 

 hands of the laborers inevitably speared many. The air above and 

 around was literally alive with the grasshoppers, causing a prema- 

 ture twilight to appear. The barns were so thoroughly covered that 

 the color of the paint could not be distinguished. 



"The greatest damage, however, was to the oat crop. The insects 

 were found in the usual countless myriads engaged in destroying the 

 grain. They would gnaw off the stalk just below the head, which 

 dropped to the ground and was lost. I passed by several fields the 

 edges of which had been ruined, — rarely a head of grain to be seen 

 for a distance of several rods from where I stood. This was con- 

 tinued, in many fields, over the entire surface — in such instances the 

 crop of course being a total failure. Many fields of grain harvested 

 which, had it not been for the ravages. of the pest, would have yielded 

 at least fifty bushels per acre, gave only from three to sixteen bushels 

 per acre. In every case the entire field was damaged more or less, 

 but always to a greater degree around the edges. 



"From August 15 to Sept. 1 I was in Kane county, where I learned 

 of the damage to oats and corn by the locusts. Oats were damaged 

 from three to thirty bushels per acre. One farmer had previously 

 estimated his oat crop at forty-five bushels per acre ; he realized 



