﻿OP THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 63 



a sparkling stream of limpid water, into a floatino^ mass of dead grasshoppers, the water 

 becoming so corrupt and offensive that neither man or beast could tolerate it. The 

 trout pond in Mr. Sisty's meadow became so putrid that he was compelled to cut away 

 the dam and let the accumulated filth flow off. Mr. Sisty says that he never before 

 witnessed such a phenomenon. The theory is, that a cold shower along the range 

 threw down the dense swarms of insects, which were drowned, and the little tributary 

 streams swept them into the brook in such numbers that it required days for the whole 

 to be carried away, while the masses that had accumulated in the eddies, decayed, 

 imparting putridity to the waters, 



Mr. Stanger, of the Coloi-ado Farmer, tells me that the flight of the great clouds 

 that were far up in the air, was invariably southwest over Denver, and he believes that 

 eggs were laid over the whole Iraversible territory of the State. 



Iowa — As in a few of the S. W. counties in Minnesota, so in adjoining parts of N. 

 W. Iowa, and notably in Osceola and Dickinson counties, the young insects hatched 

 out from eggs laid in 1875 ; but, as Mr. J. M. Jenkins, of La Mars, writes me, they had 

 entirely disappeared by the middle of June, either dying of inanition, being devoured 

 by their various enemies, or moving off to the N. W. 



About the first day of August, the northwestern counties of this State were visited 

 by heavy swarms. Thej' appeared to cross the State line from Dakota and Minnesota 

 at almost exactly the same date for Emmett, Dickinson, Osceola, Lyon, Sioux and 

 Plymouth counties, and from here they swept at once out into the counties lying east- 

 ward and a little to the south. The direction of flight was a little south of east, and 

 the rate at times eight or more miles an hour. The insects were at times so thick as to 

 darken the sun, and to impede trains. That the invasion was from the northwest may 

 be readily seen by consulting a map in connection with the following data furnished 

 by Prof. Bessey of the Agricultural College : 



Lyon county, commencement of harvest. 



Sioux county, July 27. 



Plymouth county, last week in July. 



O'Brien county, July 27 or 28. 



Pocahontas county, August I. 



Cherokee county, August 6. 



Monona county, August 10. 



Audubon county, about the middle of August. 



Harrison county, August 18. 



Carroll county, August 18. 



Sac county, August 23. Apparently in northwestern part of county about a week 

 or ten days before. 



Pottowattamie county, August 23. 



Hamilton county, August 30. 



Boone county, first week in September. 



Hancock county, September 8. 



Guthrie county, from 1st to 10th of September. 



Story county, first noticed about the middle of September, flying over in consider- 

 able numbers. 



The amount of damage done, as shown by all obtiiinable data, was not so great as 

 in former years. Some lucky sections in the area traversed by them escaped entirely ; 

 though a few counties, and particularly those first visited, suffered very heavily. The 

 loss to Lyon county was three-fourths, to Sioux, one-half, of all crops. In Plymouth 

 county corn was damaged two-thirds. Monona and Harrison report injury to corn 

 from 10 to 20 per cent. In Pottowatamie county their preference for nursery-stock and 

 garden vegetables made their injury to the grain-grower comparatively slight. This 



