219 



Black Hills along the line designated to the international boundary ; shall undertake 

 and carry out to an extent to be designated a system of irrigation, and shall equip 

 and keep in operation said road for a certain number of years. 



Whether such grant will be sufficient inducement for any competent company to 

 undertake the work specified is probably the chief difficulty in the way of success- 

 fully carrying out this plan. On this point we do not feel qualified to express an 

 opinion. That such a road starting from the Black Hills, if once built, would soon 

 be connected southward and eastward with other roads can not be doubted. That it 

 would be the best possible means of bringing an agricultural population into this 

 belt can not be doubted. It would also be an important factor in settling the trouble- 

 some Indian problem in this section of the West. 



If the plan should be adopted it might be well to colonize, if possible, with Rus- 

 sian peasants who are accustomed to fighting locusts. 



The advantage to be derived from this plan consists chiefly in the fact that it is 

 possible to destroy the young to a very large extent by the use of the proper means. 

 If this is done in the very heart of their bi-eeding grounds it greatly lessens the num- 

 bers that will migrate. Not only does it prevent the number destroyed from migrat- 

 ing, but of each one killed, so to speak, an entire family brood of the next or migrat- 

 ing generation is destroyed. In other words, the destruction of thousands there 

 would be as effectual as destroying millions of the migrating swarms. The means of 

 destroying the young, as before stated, can be made more effectual in the sections 

 where irrigation is carried on than where it is not. 



As shown in our first report, the destruction of the young locusts bred in the tempo- 

 rary region from the invading hordes not only gives immediate relief, but also tends 

 to postpone future invasions by so lessening the numbers in the returning swarms 

 that a longer time is required for development. With an agricultural population in 

 the area designated the work of destruction would then be carried on at each end 

 of their migratory route. 



Here we may also remark that the present idea of making that section of our coun- 

 try a peculiarly pastoral area, while doubtless profitable to the present and for two or 

 three generations to come, will in the end entail hardships upon those to follow. It 

 can no longer be doubted that while the destruction of forests was the chief agency, 

 yet the pastoral habit of the i)eoi)le of western Asia and other oriental countries, once 

 so fertile but now barren, was one important factor in producing the present dry and 

 barren condition of those countries. No country in the interior of a continent, unless 

 supplied with numerous lakes or numerous and permanent rivers, can remain per- 

 manently fertile and productive if given up largely to pasturage of sheep, goats, and 

 cattle, without cultivation. The rapid destruction of mountain forests, and pastur- 

 ing their slopes and bordering plains, will most certainly have a tendency to render 

 that portion of our country more dry and barren. 



Unless, therefore, our Government adopts some policy by which an agricultural 

 population can be thrown into that area, the day will most assuredly come when it 

 will be as barren and desolate as the plains of Arabia. The development of the lo- 

 custs is but an incident of the change from a former condition of abundant moisture 

 to the present dry one. But this branch of the subject we propose to omit at present. 



It will be seen, therefore, by the foregoing that we think it is possible to modify to 

 a very large extent the operations of the locusts so far as these relate to the area 

 along the east flank of the mountains, and that the General Government may, with- 

 out any very great expense, very greatly assist in the work. 



# * # # * * * 



This certainly shows a very moderate climate for this northern latitude. Wheat, 

 oats, rye, and barley grow well, and Indian corn is also raised without difficulty and 

 produces good crops. Such fruits as apples, plums, cherries, currants, raspberries, 

 and gooseberries may be grown and matured here, the climate presenting no serious 

 obstacle. 



