41 



coloradensis being- the chief ones. These, with the exception of the 

 first, are found upon the higher grounds among the shorter grasses 

 like the Boutelouas. 



In driving- and wall?;ing- about over the country, in which move- 

 ments 10 or 12 miles at a time were covered, few dead or sick locusts 

 were seen, and inquiry among the farmers and other interested parties 

 gave the same impression as to their comparative healthiness. No 

 Empusa-killed 'hoppers had been seen by anyone during- the present 

 year, so far as could be learned, and only a few had been observed to 

 die from "grubs" and from what is apparently either a bacterial 

 disease or such a disease in conjunction with a Sporotrichum. At 

 least this last surmise seems to be warranted, since the conditions of 

 death coincide with observations made a week prior in an alfalfa field 

 on the North Platte, about 17 miles to the northwest of the little town 

 of Ogallala, where the locusts of various species had succumbed in 

 large numbers. When these were placed in a dish for the purpose 

 of ascertaining- the cause of their demise there was obtained a fun- 

 gous growth, pronounced by Dr. C. E. Bessey, of the Universit}^ of 

 Nebraska, to be a species of Sporotrichum. Several bacteria were also 

 present in large numbers within the bodies of some of the above- 

 mentioned dead locusts. 



Inquiries made among the railroad employees at McCook showed 

 that these insects reached eastward as far as Red Cloud in numbers 

 sufficiently great to perceptibly injure cultivated vegetation in both 

 gardens and fields. 



In passing westward from McCook along the line of the Burlington 

 and Missouri River Railroad, locust injury was observed all the way to 

 Haigler, but seemed to be the most pronounced between the former 

 place and Stratton. 



From different persons questioned concerning the various measures 

 that had been taken to combat the locusts in this portion of the State, 

 it was learned that the kerosene pan had been used in a few cases, 

 while disking had been resorted to by some, and several had even 

 attempted the use of poison in the form of Paris green mixed with 

 bran. In some instances also large flocks of chickens and turkeys pro- 

 duced some good results. Altogether, however, but little had been 

 accomplished, and no concerted action had been undertaken b}'^ the 

 settlers to rid themselves of the pest. It would require a concerted 

 action over the entire area affected, for at least two or three years in 

 succession, to obtain complete control of the pest. 



Whether or not the killing off of the native birds in this section of 

 the State has been much of a factor in permitting this abundance of 

 the locust is a query. One farmer near McCook remarked that a 

 couple of years ago a certain locality near one end of a particular 

 field of his had been protected by blackbirds, a hundred or more pairs 



