﻿144 SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



In order to present a more intelligible account of this 1874 inva- 

 sion, it will be best to treat it briefly in connection with each State 

 and Territory which suffered from it. 



From New Mexico, Texas and Indian Territory the reports that 

 have come to my notice are meagre; yet they are sufficient, in con- 

 nection with those published by the Department of Agriculture, to 

 show that the territory indicated in my map was more or less visited. 

 In Texas, they were more particularly injurious in Cooke, Belknap, 

 Blanco, Blandera, DeWitt, Palo Pinto, Gillespie, Medina, Kendall, 

 and San Sabo counties. 



Missouri — Fully aware of the importance of a complete and 

 reliable record of the Locust invasion of our own State, not only as a 

 matter of history, but as a guide for the future, I have taken some 

 pains to make the record as complete as possible. In order to do so, 

 I sent out the following questions to correspondents in each county — 

 the same, in fact, to whom I addressed the Chinch Bug circular : 



1. Did the Locust appear at all in your locality or in your county the past Sum- 

 mer or Fall ? 



2. If so, give the exact date at which they first appeared, and, as near as may be, 

 the direction from which they came, and the direction and force of the wind at the 

 time. 



3. State, as near as may be, the prevailing direction in which they flew or trav- 

 eled, and whether the direction was much altered or influenced by the winds. Also,, 

 whether different swarms came at different times from different directions. 



4. How long did they stay ? 



5. What plants or crops were most injured by them? 



6. What plants or crops more particularly escaped their ravages ? 



7. Did the locusts lay eggs ; and if so, what positions did they prefer, as sward,, 

 stubble, roadways, ploughed, high or low ground, etc.? 



8. Were any of the eggs noticed to hatch during the protracted and mild Fall 

 weather ? 



9. What are your recollections of former visitations, with reference to these ques- 

 tions? And what has been the damage resulting the succeeding year of such visita- 

 tions, from the young hatched on the ground ? 



10. Give an estimate of the amount of damage caused by them in your county. 



11. What means have been adopted to prevent their injuries or to destroy them ? 



12. State tnore particularly, if locusts invaded you?' county, the precise eastern 

 limit which they reached. 



Being firmly of the opinion that these insects would never do any 

 serious damage east of a line drawn, at a rough estimate, along 17°' 

 west from Washington, and knowing that we could only judge of th& 



