52 



corn — the chief crop of that section — was completely stripped of its 

 blades. 



Now what can the farmer do with his one or two assistants in his 

 family, assisted by all the appliances they could operate, in preserv- 

 ing a field of eighty or even forty acres of corn, and from such an at- 

 tack as this; especially when we remember that as soon as it is cleared 

 of one set of these devourers another stands ready to pour in upon it 

 from the surrounding prairies ? Besides, there can be no combina- 

 tion of forces, for at such times all are similarly situated, and delay 

 is fatal. So far, man appears to be powerless at such times, as with the 

 force the pioneer farmers of these border States usually have at com- 

 mand, but little progress could be made toward harvesting their crops 

 after the swarms appear. And even if this were possible, which is 

 seldom the case, it is usually valueless except as fodder ; but even this 

 would be worth the trouble, as it would assist in preserving stock. 



The farmer usually sits down in blank diapair, and in gloomy si- 

 lence beholds the work of destruction ; n^r can we wonder at it when 

 we consider the suddenness and magnitude of the attack. It is there- 

 fore certain that the only means of counteracting these inroads must 

 be preventive ; and which appears to be possible. 



1. It would certainly be in vain for even the national government 

 to attempt to exterminate them by destroying the eggs in the various 

 hatching grounds which extend from British America to Colorado. 



2. If the swarms which reach the border States come from a lim- 

 ited area along the east flank of the mountains, the destruction of the 

 eggs by any temporary means, even if possible, would be of compara- 

 tively little value, as the hordes sweeping down from the mountain 

 regions would soon replace them. Irrigation, so far as I can see, is the 

 only permanent means, and this, I am satisfied from a careful study 

 of the drainage of these regions, is possible only in the area named 

 in a portion of that section of the Upper Missouri country west of the 

 Judith Mountains. 



3. Signal stations in these regions connected by telegraph lines 

 with the sections they visit, might possibly give warning in time to 

 gather such crops as would be of value, but these lines would have to 

 be so arranged as to trace the usual line of march of these insects. 

 What effect firing the prairies on their approach would have, I am 

 unable to say, but it is possible it might cause them to move on, as 

 was the case in some instances mentioned in the accounts of their 

 invasions recorded. 



4. Although I have but little faith in Indian industry, yet it may 

 be that a premium offered them for eggs and grasshoppers, would in- 

 duce them to gather them in the regions over which they roam; and 

 as the government undertakes any way to feed them, it might be well 

 enough to make a trial, and thus perhaps beget in the young some 

 faint idea of industry and its results. If the experiment should prove 

 successful it would be some help, be it ever so small, toward staying 

 the ravages of these locust pests, and it would be simply another 

 mode of paying the Indian-, and if rightly planned no additional 

 expense to the government. A3 regards the resulting brood the 

 farmer does not appear to be so helpless as he does with the incoming 

 hordes. The former coming gradually and presenting various points 



