﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  LOCUST 
  IN 
  MINNESOTA 
  IN 
  1876. 
  619 
  

  

  tatoes 
  and 
  garden 
  stuff. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  depositing 
  tlieir 
  eggs 
  for 
  the 
  

   last 
  two 
  months. 
  Broivn: 
  Eeduced 
  corn, 
  wheat, 
  and 
  rye 
  to 
  25 
  5 
  oats, 
  

   barley, 
  and 
  buckwheat 
  to 
  10. 
  Blue 
  Earth: 
  Injured 
  the 
  corn 
  somewhat 
  

   and 
  ruined 
  beans. 
  The 
  county 
  is 
  literally 
  filled 
  with 
  their 
  eggs. 
  Some 
  

   of 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  being 
  eaten 
  by 
  a 
  small 
  worm 
  or 
  maggot 
  and 
  some 
  by 
  a 
  

   small 
  red 
  bug. 
  liohles: 
  A 
  small 
  amount 
  of 
  corn 
  and 
  wheat 
  escaped 
  the 
  

   grasshoppers 
  ; 
  other 
  crops 
  are 
  almost 
  a 
  total 
  loss. 
  Stevens: 
  Have 
  cut 
  

   down 
  our 
  crops 
  fearfully 
  within 
  the 
  past 
  month. 
  Todd: 
  Are 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  

   county; 
  there 
  is 
  scarcely 
  a 
  foot 
  of 
  prairie 
  or 
  timber 
  land 
  on 
  which 
  eggs 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  found. 
  Stearns: 
  Overrun 
  the 
  county 
  and 
  deposited 
  millions 
  

   of 
  eggs. 
  Eoch: 
  Everything 
  was 
  favorable 
  for 
  excessive 
  crops 
  when 
  the 
  

   grasshoppers 
  came. 
  They 
  reduced 
  wheat 
  30 
  per 
  cent. 
  ; 
  corn 
  and 
  oats 
  

   67; 
  potatoes 
  75, 
  and 
  ruined 
  beans. 
  — 
  (Monthly 
  Agricultural 
  Eeport, 
  

   August 
  and 
  September, 
  1876.) 
  

  

  Farther 
  particulars 
  regarding 
  the 
  locust 
  invasions 
  of 
  Minnesota 
  I 
  

   extract 
  and 
  condense 
  from 
  a 
  valuable 
  " 
  Eeport 
  on 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  

   locust 
  for 
  1876," 
  by 
  Alien 
  Whitman 
  : 
  

  

  Contrary 
  to 
  what 
  was 
  stated 
  by 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  S. 
  Taylor, 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  locust 
  invasion 
  of 
  

   Minnesota 
  in 
  1855, 
  Lut 
  " 
  late 
  in 
  July, 
  1856, 
  invading 
  swarms 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  northwest 
  

   into 
  the 
  Upper 
  Miseiss 
  ppi 
  Valley, 
  an 
  j 
  gradually 
  spread 
  along 
  the 
  river 
  during 
  the 
  season, 
  

   much 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  done 
  in 
  the 
  past 
  summer 
  [1876], 
  and 
  reaching 
  nearly 
  

   the 
  same 
  limits." 
  * 
  » 
  * 
  Again, 
  in 
  1864, 
  swarms 
  appeared 
  early 
  in 
  July, 
  along 
  the 
  

   Upper 
  Minnesota 
  River, 
  and 
  spread 
  eastward 
  gradually 
  during 
  the 
  season, 
  and 
  reached 
  

   about 
  as 
  far 
  east 
  as 
  in 
  1874, 
  i. 
  e., 
  to 
  the 
  third 
  tier 
  of 
  towns 
  in 
  Le 
  Sueur 
  County. 
  Scat- 
  

   tering 
  swarms 
  also 
  visited 
  Manitoba 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  and 
  probably 
  some 
  portions 
  of 
  

   these 
  reached 
  Northwest 
  Minnesota, 
  for 
  we 
  hear 
  of 
  slight 
  appearances 
  of 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  

   Eed 
  River 
  and 
  the 
  Sauk 
  Valleys 
  in 
  1864 
  and 
  1865. 
  But 
  the 
  gr3ater 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  in- 
  

   jury 
  was 
  done 
  in 
  the 
  Minnesota 
  Valley, 
  and 
  was 
  followed 
  by 
  a 
  general 
  departure 
  to 
  

   the 
  southwest 
  in 
  1865. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  It 
  seems 
  very 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  swarms 
  which 
  entered 
  

   Minnesota 
  in 
  1864 
  were 
  hatched 
  at 
  no 
  great 
  distance, 
  and 
  were 
  the 
  offspring 
  of 
  swarms 
  

   that 
  had 
  alighted 
  in 
  Eastern 
  Dakota 
  in 
  the 
  preceding 
  year. 
  This 
  may, 
  perhaps, 
  be 
  in- 
  

   ferred 
  from 
  the 
  following 
  letter 
  of 
  the 
  Rev. 
  S. 
  R. 
  Riggs, 
  missionary 
  at 
  the 
  Sisseton 
  

   In.iian 
  agency, 
  dated 
  September 
  9, 
  1875: 
  

  

  " 
  In 
  1863, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  remembered 
  that 
  on 
  General 
  Sibley's 
  expedition 
  to 
  the 
  Missouri 
  

   we 
  met 
  with 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  the 
  grasshoppers 
  in 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  Dakota, 
  partciularly, 
  

   as 
  I 
  remember, 
  near 
  Skunk 
  Lake 
  (in 
  Minnehaha 
  County), 
  where 
  the 
  large 
  grass 
  had 
  

   been 
  eaten 
  to 
  the 
  bare 
  stalks, 
  and 
  our 
  animals 
  fared 
  badly. 
  In 
  1865 
  I 
  visited 
  a 
  camp 
  

   of 
  Dakota 
  scouts, 
  near 
  the 
  ' 
  Hole 
  in 
  the 
  Mountain,' 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Redwood. 
  That 
  

   was 
  in 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  August. 
  The 
  \' 
  alley 
  of 
  the 
  Minnesota, 
  clear 
  out 
  to 
  the 
  coteau, 
  

   was 
  so 
  full 
  of 
  grasshopj)ers 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  unpleasant 
  traveling. 
  For 
  the 
  nest 
  four 
  

   years, 
  I 
  traveled 
  every 
  summer 
  on 
  the 
  Missouri 
  River, 
  coming 
  over 
  to 
  and 
  from 
  Min- 
  

   nesota. 
  Every 
  season 
  I 
  met 
  with 
  grasshoppers 
  at 
  some 
  point 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  

   Missouri. 
  In 
  1867, 
  and 
  also 
  in 
  1868, 
  we 
  found 
  them 
  near 
  Fort 
  Randall. 
  In 
  1869, 
  in 
  

   August, 
  we 
  met 
  them 
  above 
  Fort 
  Sully, 
  near 
  Grand 
  River. 
  In 
  all 
  the 
  cases 
  they 
  were 
  

   only 
  in 
  small 
  battalions, 
  and 
  appeared 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  there 
  from 
  other 
  parts. 
  

  

  " 
  Again, 
  in 
  1871, 
  slight 
  and 
  scattering 
  swarms 
  of 
  locusts 
  appeared 
  in 
  Stearns, 
  Todd, 
  

   Douglas, 
  Pope, 
  Otter 
  Tail, 
  Becker, 
  and 
  Polk 
  Counties, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  in 
  others. 
  * 
  * 
  » 
  

   The 
  invasion 
  of 
  1873 
  was 
  something 
  unusual 
  in 
  its 
  character 
  from 
  the 
  earliness 
  of 
  its 
  ar- 
  

   rival, 
  the 
  direction 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  came, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  a 
  

   visitation 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  prolonged 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  by 
  what, 
  judging 
  from 
  former 
  

   years, 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  unusual 
  circumstances. 
  Each 
  summer 
  since 
  1873, 
  instead 
  

   of 
  being 
  the 
  scene 
  of 
  a 
  general 
  departure 
  of 
  the 
  hatching-swarms, 
  as 
  in 
  former 
  years, 
  

   has 
  seen 
  portions 
  of 
  those 
  swarms 
  alighting 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  from 
  where 
  they 
  were 
  

   hatched 
  (generally 
  in 
  the 
  nest 
  range 
  of 
  counties, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  in 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  county), 
  and 
  depositing 
  eggs 
  for 
  another 
  brood. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  these, 
  new 
  

   swarms 
  coming 
  in 
  from 
  the 
  northwest 
  in 
  1874 
  and 
  again 
  in 
  1876 
  have 
  added 
  greatly 
  to 
  

   the 
  area 
  of 
  devastations 
  in 
  both 
  these 
  years, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  year 
  to 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  egg- 
  

   deposit." 
  

  

  The 
  map 
  appended 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Whitman's 
  report 
  clearly 
  shows 
  the 
  suc- 
  

   cessive 
  encroachments 
  of 
  the 
  locusts 
  in 
  the 
  State. 
  The 
  parents 
  of 
  those 
  

   that 
  have 
  bred 
  within 
  the 
  State 
  since 
  1873 
  " 
  reached 
  the 
  southwestern 
  

   corner 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  about 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  June, 
  1873, 
  brought 
  by 
  a 
  wind 
  that 
  

   had 
  been 
  blowing 
  freshly 
  from 
  the 
  southwest 
  for 
  several 
  days." 
  The 
  

  

  