﻿60 NINTH ANNUAL KEPORT 



and the insects poured from that direction into the same country that they had pre- 

 viously left. These swarms were doubtless made up of the very insects that had 

 shortly before left Minnesota, reinforced by others that had lived in the Territory ; for 

 they were flying- at Pembina, mostly south and southeast from the 8th to the 20th of 

 July. 



At the Omaha Conference Gov. Pennino^ton stated that the young never hatched 

 in Dakota, founding his statement on the fact, doubtless, that individually he had never 

 seen them around Yankton. I stated at the time that the reports from Signal Service 

 eporters proved the statement incorrect, and the reports for 187G from various parts of 

 the eastern and southern portions of the Territory show that the young hatched out 

 there early in the season, as they did in parts of Minnesota.* The Signal Service reports 

 them even far to the north at Pembina, as appearing in June. 



From the reports, it is evident that after the first week in July the swarm? took a 

 south and southeast direction; farther, that until toward the beginning- of August 

 they were scattering, did but little damage and laid no eggs— thus indicating that they 

 came from but a short distance. By the first of August, however, and from that on, 

 the swarms were more and more dense, extensive and disastrous, indicating that they 

 had come from a greater distance. It was reported from Yankton, August 2, that the 

 Indians would lose half their crops, but the reports generally during the early part of 

 the month were very contradictory, white those received during the latter part of 

 August showed that the locusts were doing but little damage, and that there had been 

 much exaggeration, especially as to the injury in the Red Kiver Valley. The elevators 

 and warehouses in Yankton were doing a large local business in the Fall. Gov. Pen- 

 nington represents the damage to wheat at only 5 per cent., and states that corn was 

 one-fourth to one-half a crop. Eggs were laid in the extreme southwest corner, but 

 principally, I think, by the insects from Minnesota. Considerable injury seems to have 

 been done to fruit trees, which in many localities were stripped. Such trees put out 

 fresh leaves and even bloomed again, and it was noted that a frost in September, which 

 stripped most trees of leaves, left the new growth on the locust-stripped trees 

 untouched. I have observed similar results elsewhere. 



Minnesota— Less fortunate than the States to the South, a good supply of eggs 

 was left in the ground in 1875 in some of the more sparsely settled counties to the 

 Southwest, including Murray, Cottonwood, Watonwan, Brown, and parts of the adjoin- 

 ing counties. Many of the farmers were unable to get large amounts of seed-wheat, 

 after three years depletion. The average sown to small grain was, therefore, small. 

 Yet, from statistics furnished me by J. B. Phillips, Commissioner of Statistics, 

 the estimated yield of wheat in the State, notwithstanding all drawbacks, was over 

 15,000,000 bushels. After the grain was up and the locusts had began to hatch, it was 

 considered in many cases to be more profitable to seek the certainty of employment 

 elsewhere, than to take the chances of (at best) a small crop at home. But there were 

 quite a number of cases in which men, by using various means, succeeded in saving 

 half or two-thirds of a crop ; and reviewing the situation in Blue Earth county, the 

 Mankato i^eview of August 15, says: 



It is a notable fact, worthy of mention, in this connection, that the grasshoppers 

 were very bad in the town of Rapidan, but under the vigorous fight instigated by the 

 county and local bonus, the loss was comparatively light — only 6,570 bushels, and the 

 average yield of the town, not including this loss, was about 16 bushels to the acre. 

 The town of Lyra w:is much less aftected by grasshoppers, yet its loss is nearly 

 2,500 bushels in excess of Ilipidan, a sum more than sufficient to pay the local bounty 

 of the latter town. 



*See, more particularly, the records Dublished by Mr. Whitman in his " Eeport on the Eocky 

 Mountain Locust lor 187C. ' ' 



