﻿610 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  They 
  laid 
  their 
  eggs 
  in 
  an 
  unbroken, 
  somewhat 
  sandy 
  soil, 
  in 
  little 
  pock- 
  

   ets 
  buried 
  several 
  lines 
  deep. 
  Mr. 
  Ball 
  counted 
  several 
  hundred 
  holes 
  

   in 
  a 
  square 
  foot 
  of 
  soil. 
  They 
  did 
  not 
  lay 
  in 
  cultivated, 
  plowed 
  land, 
  

   and 
  should 
  they 
  do 
  so, 
  plowing 
  would 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  destroy 
  almost 
  

   all 
  the 
  eggs. 
  From 
  the 
  observations 
  he 
  made, 
  Mr. 
  Ball 
  concludes 
  that 
  

   this 
  great 
  plague 
  will 
  diminish 
  as 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  increases, 
  

   and 
  will 
  finally 
  be 
  abated, 
  as 
  in 
  Germany 
  the 
  locust 
  invasions 
  are 
  much 
  

   less 
  numerous 
  than 
  formerly. 
  

  

  At 
  Fort 
  Gibson, 
  Indian 
  Territory, 
  they 
  appeared 
  September 
  16 
  to 
  28. 
  

   North 
  of 
  Texas, 
  in 
  Arkansas, 
  Kansas, 
  Missouri, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  

   Monthly 
  Weather 
  Eeview, 
  August 
  6, 
  grasshoppers 
  appeared 
  at 
  La- 
  

   mar's, 
  Nodaway 
  County 
  ; 
  Oregon, 
  Mo., 
  flying 
  north 
  1st; 
  northwest 
  2d, 
  

   4th, 
  6th; 
  south 
  11th 
  and 
  19th; 
  northwest 
  22d 
  ; 
  southwest 
  23d 
  and 
  25th; 
  

   and 
  south 
  26th. 
  For 
  other 
  details 
  the 
  reader 
  is 
  referred 
  to 
  Eiley's 
  

   Ninth 
  Eeport, 
  as 
  State 
  entomologist 
  of 
  Missouri), 
  and 
  Minnesota, 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  Iowa, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  Monthly 
  Weather 
  Eeview, 
  the 
  locust 
  ap- 
  

   peared 
  late 
  in 
  summer 
  and 
  laid 
  their 
  eggs, 
  which 
  will 
  hatch 
  out 
  in 
  

   greater 
  or 
  less 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1877. 
  

  

  THE 
  LOCUST 
  IN 
  NEBRASKA 
  IN 
  1876. 
  

  

  How 
  they 
  swarmed 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  last 
  autumn 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  

   following 
  extract 
  from 
  a 
  correspondent 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  Tribune 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  grasshoppers 
  are 
  here. 
  They 
  have 
  come 
  to 
  stay, 
  and 
  are 
  busy 
  perpetuating; 
  

   their 
  species. 
  Early 
  in 
  August 
  they 
  reached 
  the 
  western 
  portions 
  of 
  this 
  State, 
  but 
  

   were 
  partial 
  in 
  their 
  depredations, 
  devouring 
  everything 
  in 
  some 
  localities, 
  doing 
  little 
  

   damage 
  iu 
  others. 
  On 
  the 
  12th 
  of 
  the 
  month 
  they 
  made 
  a 
  forward 
  movement, 
  and 
  

   appeared 
  in 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Elkhorn, 
  Platte, 
  and 
  Republican. 
  Our 
  local 
  papers, 
  act- 
  

   ing 
  on 
  the 
  " 
  ostrich 
  " 
  policy, 
  suppressed 
  the 
  facts 
  or 
  misrepresented 
  them, 
  and 
  all 
  were 
  

   wishing 
  for 
  a 
  favorable 
  wind 
  to 
  carry 
  the 
  pests 
  beyond 
  our 
  borders. 
  But 
  a 
  soft, 
  south- 
  

   erly 
  wind, 
  varied 
  by 
  an 
  occasional 
  thunder-storm 
  from 
  the 
  northwest, 
  prevailed 
  till 
  

   the 
  23d, 
  when, 
  aided 
  by 
  a 
  stiff 
  northwester, 
  the 
  grasshoppers 
  rose 
  and 
  came 
  from 
  their 
  

   exhausted 
  feeding-grounds 
  upon 
  the 
  east 
  and 
  south 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  They 
  came 
  

   literally 
  in 
  clouds, 
  looking 
  like 
  the 
  frost-clonds 
  that 
  drift 
  along 
  the 
  horizon 
  on 
  a 
  win- 
  

   ter 
  morning. 
  They 
  are 
  devouring 
  "every 
  green 
  thing," 
  including 
  shade-trees 
  and 
  

   >even 
  weeds, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  " 
  Jamestown 
  weed" 
  and 
  wild 
  hemp. 
  The 
  great 
  body 
  of 
  them 
  

   seemed 
  to 
  pass 
  south, 
  moving 
  in 
  dense 
  masses 
  during 
  the 
  23d, 
  24th, 
  and 
  25th, 
  and 
  will 
  

   probably 
  be 
  heard 
  from 
  in 
  Kansas 
  and 
  Missouri. 
  I 
  have 
  suffered 
  a 
  total 
  destruction 
  of 
  

   60 
  acres 
  of 
  corn, 
  as 
  fine 
  as 
  I 
  ever 
  raised. 
  The 
  amount 
  of 
  damage 
  in 
  Nebraska 
  is 
  hard 
  

   to 
  determine. 
  The 
  small 
  grain 
  was 
  harvested; 
  corn 
  and 
  vegetables 
  alone 
  suffer. 
  

   Taking 
  into 
  consideration 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  we 
  always 
  overestimate 
  a 
  standing 
  crop 
  of 
  

   coi'u, 
  and 
  are 
  disposed 
  to 
  underestimate 
  our 
  losses, 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  shall 
  be 
  fortunate 
  if 
  

   the 
  corn 
  realizes 
  one-third 
  the 
  anticipated 
  yield. 
  A 
  few 
  words 
  upon 
  the 
  " 
  parasite 
  " 
  

   delusion. 
  The 
  grasshoppers 
  last 
  year 
  were 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent 
  infested 
  with 
  the 
  coral- 
  

   like 
  insects, 
  but 
  my 
  conviction 
  is 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  no 
  more 
  fatal 
  to 
  them 
  than 
  fleas 
  are 
  to 
  

   a 
  dog. 
  This 
  season 
  I 
  have 
  failed 
  to 
  find 
  any 
  " 
  parasites." 
  At 
  present 
  no 
  natural 
  en- 
  

   emy 
  appears 
  to 
  interfere 
  with 
  the 
  festive 
  progress 
  of 
  the 
  locust 
  through 
  this 
  fertile 
  

   region. 
  Many 
  have 
  concluded, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  one 
  of 
  them, 
  that 
  for 
  the 
  present 
  the 
  locust 
  

   is 
  an 
  " 
  incident" 
  to 
  this 
  locality, 
  the 
  solitary 
  " 
  drawback" 
  to 
  our 
  enviable 
  lot, 
  which 
  

   can 
  be 
  obviated 
  iu 
  part 
  by 
  new 
  methods 
  of 
  farming, 
  but 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  altogether 
  re- 
  

   moved 
  only 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  unexplained 
  and 
  beneficent 
  interpositions 
  of 
  Nature 
  by 
  

   which 
  certain 
  species 
  are 
  occasionally 
  overwhelmed 
  with 
  destruction, 
  and 
  appear 
  

   again 
  only 
  after 
  a 
  lapse 
  of 
  years. 
  Warned 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Riley's 
  example, 
  I 
  will 
  venture 
  no 
  

   prediction 
  as 
  to 
  next 
  year, 
  but 
  present 
  indications 
  are 
  that 
  our 
  small 
  grain 
  will 
  suffer 
  

   early 
  next 
  summer, 
  when 
  the 
  eggs 
  now 
  being 
  deposited 
  are 
  hatched, 
  but 
  that 
  the 
  late 
  

   corn 
  will 
  be 
  unmolested, 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  flight 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  brood 
  to 
  their 
  natural 
  

   home 
  in 
  the 
  Northwest. 
  

  

  Another 
  correspondent, 
  Mrs. 
  0. 
  L. 
  Nettleton, 
  of 
  Eed 
  Willow 
  County, 
  

   Nebraska, 
  writes 
  as 
  follows 
  to 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  Tribune 
  : 
  

  

  Locust 
  prospects 
  is 
  a 
  subject 
  of 
  much 
  anxious 
  thought 
  with 
  us, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  tempted 
  

   to 
  write 
  of 
  our 
  experiences 
  in 
  this 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Republican 
  River. 
  I 
  trust 
  that 
  efforts 
  

   to 
  secure 
  a 
  thorough 
  investigation 
  and 
  abatement 
  of 
  the 
  pest 
  may 
  be 
  successful. 
  It 
  

  

  