63 



their appearance in the spring". The}^ were combated verj^ energet- 

 ically, with the cooperation of the police, local population, and six 

 battalions of soldiers. At an expense of 52,000 rubles the z3'emstvo 

 destroyed completely the grasshoppers in the province. 



In the Oryol government all the work directed to the destruction of 

 the grasshoppers is divided between the provincial zj^emstvo and the 

 district zyemstvos, the duty of the former being the ascertainment of 

 the places infested with the. eggs of the insects, the instruction of the 

 population in the methods of combating them, and a general super- 

 vision over the carrying out of all the operations, while the duty of 

 the distric z3'emstvos is the immediate execution of those operations. 



The Tambov government in 1893 petitioned the imperial administra- 

 tion to consider the destroying of the grasshoppers as a duty of the 

 whole nation. The minister of the interior replied that similar peti- 

 tions were received repeatedly from zyemstvos, but were invariably 

 declined by the minister of the interior, with the concurrence of the 

 ministry of finance, on the ground that, according to the existing 

 laws, measures for the destruction of the injurious insects are incum- 

 bent upon the zyemstvos. The executive board of the provincial 

 zyemstvo then organized the fight against the grasshoppers, a fund of 

 100,000 rubles ))eing appropriated l)y the zyemstvo. The wages were 

 fixed as follows: To a workingman with a horse, 12^ cents a day, to 

 one without a horse, 5 cents a day; for 36 pounds of grasshoppers 

 collected, 12^ cents. 



The z^^emstvos of the Ekaterinoslav, Chernigov, Kursk, Ryazan, 

 Samara, and Penza governments had also to fight grasshoppers, which 

 they did more or less successfully. 



(b) CaJoptoiuH Itallcus (Italian grasshopper). — This insect appears in 

 some places in enormous quantities. In three districts of the Sara- 

 tov government the peasants destroyed in one season 36,000 poods 

 (1 pood = 36 pounds); on one estate alone during five weeks 15,000 

 poods were collected; in the Bobrov district 40,000 poods were 

 destroyed. 



In 1897 the following regulations were adopted b\' the Bessarabia 

 government, with the approval of the imperial administration: A 

 natural tax and a money tax are fixed. The natural tax is imposed on 

 persons belonging to the lower chisses (peasants, workingmen, etc.), not 

 excluding women and children; all these persons must do the work of 

 destroying the Italian grasshoppers, without conn)ensation, within a 

 radius of 7 versts (1 verst = f mile); if called to more remote places 

 they receive a certain compensation fixed by the provincial zyemstvo; 

 each rekay of workingmen can not be held longer than three days. 

 The money tax is imposed upon all the landowners who are not 

 subject to the natural tax. The niono^^ so collected goes to cover the 

 expenses incurred in fighting the grasshoppers, in payment to the 



