393 
EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 
GRASSHOPPERS IN UTAH. 
San Pete county, Utah.—Since my last communication this section has been 
revisited by vast herds of locusts. ‘They have come from all quarters, north, 
south, east, west, in addition to many millions hatched out from last year’s eggs. 
They appear to concentrate their efforts against this settlement, to the relief of the 
surrounding ones. So determined has been the war which they have waged 
upon our small grain that our whole cereal crops will not exceed 250 bushels 
in place of what we calculate would, under ordinary circumstauces, have been 
at least 20,000 bushels. Corn, potatoes, and garden vegetables have suffered 
more or less from them, and, in many cases, choice fruit trees have been stripped 
of both leaves and fruit by the locusts, while other varieties of the same fruit 
have been passed over. This has been especially the case with “ English cur- 
rant”’ trees, which have been almost universally stripped, while the wild varieties 
of the same fruit, transplanted from their native soil, have been let alone. 
The locusts have, same as last year, deposited vast numbers of eggs, and we 
anticipate similar results from their young as suffered from last year’s deposit. 
Our most experienced farmers think it wisdom to sow large quantities of grain 
this fall, which will be done as far as practicable. This will necessarily destroy, 
or at least disturb, many of the eggs, and thus lessen the brood for next year. 
STRACHIA HISTRIONYCHA. 
Buckingham county, Virginia.—I herewith send a box containing a number 
of living insects; that is, I start them alive, and hope they may reach your 
entomologist in good health, not losing their appetite for cabbage. These 
voracious insects made their first appearance in this section about the Ist of 
October last year, and reappeared about the 1st of September this year, and! 
have totally destroyed all the cabbage in every garden where they have made 
their appearance. Our farmers usually set out from 500 to 1,500 plants, accord- 
ing to the size of their families, and many of our gardens are now as bare of 
cabbage as if we had never set out a plant. 
[The insects sent are a species of field bug, Strachia histrionycha. ‘The: 
Department has also received them from North Carolina, where they were very’ 
abundant, destroying cabbage, &c. They pass the winter in the perfect state 
under bark of trees, under stones, moss, &c., where they may be found in early 
spring, and destroyed before they have had time to lay eggs for new broods.—T. G.| 
GRAPES, HOPS, AND WOOL IN CALIFORNIA. 
Mendocino county, California.—Y ou will perceive that I have set down grapes 
and hops at a very high figure; this is owing to the fact that these branches are 
in their infancy, and, it might almost be said, this is the beginning of the enter- 
prise. The prospect now is that but a few years will elapse before hops and 
wool will become important articles of export from Mendocino county. The 
valley lands are particularly adapted to their cultivation and abuudant yield. 
The experiments heretofore made have given great encouragement. The wool- 
growing business is also becoming of great interest. Our extensive mountain 
ranges appear to be favorable for the healthy growth of sheep. These hills are 
covered witha rich fine grass, upon which they thrive. Several of our sheep- 
raisers have imported, and are constantly importing, into the county, bucks of 
the finer kinds, from which the original stock is being improved, most of the 
