50 



Mr. J. A. Allen, of Cambridge, Mass., who was in Western Iowa in 

 1867, collecting plants and insects, states that on September 5 he be- 

 held a Might of myriads of grasshoppers coming from the northwest, 

 and alighted so thickly as to cover the ground; that on the loth, he 

 saw another immense flight coming from the same direction. He 

 adds, that : " Their progress was readily traced from the north and 

 west, and their origin was undoubtedly Dakota and Nebraska, where 

 my friend, 0. H. St. John, observed them, in abundance, in the larva 

 state, in May. He also noticed them at or near Sioux City, and at 

 other points on the Iowa side of the Missouri River." 



The facts in regard to the direction from which the hordes of 1874 

 c trae, is also corroborative of the opinion advanced. And finally, a 

 fact which at first appears to stand opposed to this opinion, when 

 carefully considered, really goes to strengthen it, if applicable to the 

 general halt. The evidence in regard to the arrival of the hordes of 

 1866 in Kansas rather tends to show they came from the West, and, in 

 some instances, from the Southwest. As is shown by equally strong 

 evidence, they did not come from the inhabited portion of Eastern 

 Colorado, they must have come from the intermediate plains, and if 

 they were from the mountains, they must have passed down first. 

 then have changed their course and returned, while another portion 

 passed on to Texas, which is far more violent presumption than that 

 which I have given, which is that they were hatched on the plains as 

 the successors of those which left the Northwest in 1864. But where 

 such change of course occurs in the interior of the settled portions, it 

 may be merely a short flight from a neighboring section after their 

 first halt, and argues nothing then; but the evidence in this case ap- 

 pears to apply to their general direction, and not to a merely local 

 movement. 



I have dwelt somewhat at length upon this point because I have 

 Long had doubt in regard to the correctness of the idea that all the 

 swarms which invade these border States sweep down from their dis- 

 tant, hatching grounds in a single generation, as if they knew by a 

 new and recently-obtained instinct rich fields of corn were to be found 

 in Kansas and Nebraska. I had hoped the facts in regard to the re- 

 cent invasion would settle this question, but as these have yet to be 

 gathered, except a fe>v which correspond with those of 1867, and agree 

 with the view I have advanced, we must for the present rely upon 

 those already known, in reference to past incursions. 



It is certainly strange that they should always pass over this belt 

 of 200 or 300 miles — on which the herds of buffaloes have flourished 

 for ages — without making a halt. Where do the numerous herds go 

 which leave the mountains but never reach the settlements on the 

 east side? Most undoubtedly they spend their force upon the plains; 

 probably finding sufficient nourishment in the grasses of this area 

 they remain, diminishing year after year in numbers, or gradually 

 losing their migrating disposition. 



Let us now consider for a moment the possibility of fighting these 

 hordes from the fields after their arrival, or of destroying them by 

 direct means and mechanical appliances, in the first place, just when 

 they are coming and where they are going to stop, hitherto has been 

 one of those things which has never been ascertained. Whether this 



