﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 91 



flax, castor-beans, etc., have not been estimated in the calculation ; 

 and lastly, by the injury to stock, the animals necessarily driven out 

 of the country, and the general depreciation of property. The coun- 

 ties of Cedar, Dade, Hickory, Lawrence, McDonald, Nodaway, and 

 Folk, have, moreover, been omitted from the calculation, for want of 

 sufficient data on which to base estimates. 



THE DESTITUTION IN MISSOURI. 



From the facts already detailed under the heads of the diflerent 

 counties, it will readily be inferred that the same portion of the State 

 has never before been visited by a calamity so appalling, and so dis- 

 astrous in its results, as the locust ravages of 1875. Other years have 

 brought drought, chinch bugs, and partial or total failure of particular 

 crops, but no event ever before so completely prostrated the country 

 within which the ravages occurred. The suddenness and desolating 

 power with which the attack came, where often the possessor of pro- 

 mising crops deemed them safe, acted as a paralysis upon those very 

 faculties that are engaged in the forethought and deliberation necessary 

 to self-preservation or concerted action. The farmer saw his green 

 acres smiling with glorious hope to day, and to-morrow, perhaps, all 

 barren and bleak as in winter. It is no wonder that many communities 

 were panic-stricken. Previous disaster had already brought many 

 sections to a critical and suffering point, so that even during the 

 winter the Legislature was appealed to for aid. Stock had been 

 dying; feed of all kinds was scarce, and whole communities were 

 relying on the promise of the Spring. For t'lis reason the locust 

 ravages were all the more desolating and discouraging. 1 subjoin a 

 few extracts as a record of the destitution that occurred : 



It would be useless for me to attempt to describe the ravages of the grasshoppers. 

 You can form some idea of their voracity from the fact that they have eaten lint and 

 decayed wood from the fences, and unpainted iiouses are gnawed all over, and they are 

 now consuming the last year's corn stalks. In addition to our present disasters, I fear 

 that disorder is not far away. There is an uneasy, if not desperate feeling in many 

 localities, and those having provisions are secreting them. The press is not telling the 

 whole truth. A few Tiights since a bodv of armed men, who said they were from Bates 

 county, took all the flour from the Kingsvilie mill, and it has not been published. 

 Many other ugly facts are suppressed. — [Extract from a letter from Abram Helms, ot 

 Holden, to H. M. Williams, Jefferson City. 



We must have aid, or many will be compelled to abandon their crops. We have 

 not the seed to plant with, or the money to buy. Season too far advanced for anything 

 except corn, late potatoes, navy beans and millet. Can you help us by donation or 

 loan. The condition of our county is tridy alarming. People have become discouraged; 

 many are talking of leaving their homes; some are living on bread and water. 

 Unless we get assistance from some quarter, many are bound to suffer. Holden 

 and East Lynn are our shipping points. Can get better rates to Holden than any 

 ■other place convenient. — [Letter to Master T. R, Allen by a committee appointed 

 at Altona, May 25. 



I am now out of funds, while the distress is more imminent than at any time 

 since we began our relief effort. From Benton, Bates, Cass, Johnson, Henry, 8t, 

 Clair, and from Lafayette and Jackson counties, the appeals are most urgent and 

 pathetic— [Extract from a letter, May 21, from State agent A. J. Child to T. 11. Allen. 



