﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 93 



during the next week most of the crops in those sections will be destroyed, and that 

 they in the end will suffer more than the counties which have so far suffered most. 

 There has been a great deal of talk anionof a few idlers and loafers and desperate char- 

 acters, of raids on the towns and on tliose who have supplies. But the committees 

 appointed, especially in .Johnson county by autiiority of the County Court, investi- 

 gated the real state of affairs, and have reported that there was really no actual desti- 

 tution in that county, and that all these threats were made by desperate characters, 

 who would not work if they had the chance. 



Efforts are now being' made to relieve this pressing necessity for seed. I am 

 confident that the prediction I have made will be verified. The people will yet raise m 

 those counties, in all probability, the largest crops of corn they ever raised. The 

 locusts having killed oft' the herbage from the ground, the hosts of noxious insects that 

 fed on it have also been annihilated. There is not a weed lefr, and the ground is in the 

 best possible condition to receive seed. By the time it comes up I believe the insects 

 will have been decimated by parasites and starvation, so that the crops will re- 

 ceive little injury; that the insects will not materially advance beyond the east- 

 ern line they have now reached. Already they are dying in immense quantities; and 

 they will soon acquire wings and leave. Thus the fears of some that they threaten to 

 be a permanent pest, and that it is of no use to plant because the insects will eat every- 

 thing as fast as it comes, are groundless. 



I would urge all farmers to put (orth their best efforts to plant seed for such crops 

 as will mature soon. 1 would especially urge the planting of more root crops, such as 

 turnips, beets and mangel wurzel, which will furnish nutritious food for stock. We 

 inust not forget that the area now being devastated, compared with the area overrun 

 last fall is small, and the present severe devastation is confined to some dozen 

 counties, whereas in the rest of the State the crops are promising most abundantly. 

 I really hope that no aid will be asked outside of the State. 



'I'here are a number of ways in which the insects can be destroyed. By means of 

 ropes, conveying screens and nets, they can be caught in large quantities. They may 

 be trapped in ditches. If it had been possible for Governor Hardin to offer a bounty for 

 I'very bushel of the insect, that could have been captured throughout that district, it 

 vroui I have afforded employment to hundreds of people who have now nothing to 

 •do. From a conversation I had with Governor Hardin, I am of the opinion he 

 would gla<lly have taken that step. When I suggested last winter that a law should 

 be passed offering a bounty for the ecrs::'^, the idea was ridiculed, but the people see now 

 how wise such a course would have been. A few thousand dollars appropriated by 

 the Legii^lature for the purpose would have been the means of averting the present 

 injury. 



The meeting above referred to resulted in the appointment of a 

 committee by the Directors of the Exchange, for the purpose of solic- 

 iting aid ; and the committee at once issued the following circular : 



ADDRESS OF THE COMMITTEE. 



The undersigned, a committee appointed by the Merchants' Exchange, and acting 

 under the advice of the Governor, to appeal to the charitable people of St. Louis, and 

 the State of Missouri at large, in behalf of our fellow-citizens of the counties of Cass, 

 Vernon, Henry, Bates, Jackson and other border counties of the State, now infested 

 and overrun by locusts, beg leave to submit the following suggestions : From conver- 

 sation and correspondence with numerous parties whose statements can be relied upon, 

 we are convinced of the f/rea^ necessity fov the immediate relief of these people. The 

 demand is more especially for seeds for replanting to enable them to subsist during the 

 coming winter. 



The committee beg leave to recommend that the people of other cities and coun- 

 ties in the State organize local relief committees to co-operate with this committee, or 

 send supplies directly to the committees appointed by Governor Hardin. Supplies or 

 money seut through this comaiittee will be strictly applied to the relief of the destitute, 

 under the supervision of proper and responsible sub-committees. 



The committee are satisfied, from information obtained through Prof. C V. R'ley, 

 State Entomologist, that the insects will not extend far beyond their present limits, and 

 that they will gradually disappear from the counties now infested — the great demand 

 being for immediate and present relief. 



Donations are specially asked forln the following scecfs. viz. : ^ar^ycorw (grown as 

 far north as possible), millet. Hungarian grass, rye, oats, backwheat, heets, turnips, man- 

 gel loui zel, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, sweet potato plants, peas, beans, brootn corn, sorghum 

 and other garden seeds in season. Food — Corn meal, fiour, cured meats and salt. 

 Forage — Corn, oats, hay and any other forage for stock. 



