OUTLOOK IN NEBRASKA IN JUNE. 13 



Iq looking over the State, theref re, as a whole, we feel fally warranted in saying 

 that, so far as the young locusts hatched out this season are concerned, the danger has 

 passed, and the citizens need not remain in uncertainty any longer. We are satisfied 

 that the loss from their depredations, as compared with the whole crop, will be so 

 small that its effect upon the State will not be felt. This opinion we believe will be 

 fully borne out by the summary of facts hereafter stated. 



THE PRESENT DISTRIBUTION. 



Although the locusts hatched out quite numerously in various localities, as far west 

 as the west line of the egg-dei^osit, they have almost entirely disappeared from all 

 parts west of the meridian of Lincoln ; and even east of that there are large areas in 

 which there are none to be found, or at least so few that the farmers apprehend no 

 danger whatever from them. Even in the sections where they are considered the most 

 numerous, up to the present they have been limited to isolated spots. An examination 

 made at one of the worst infested spots showed that the number of acres over which 

 they then spread as compared with the number of acres in cultivation was so limited 

 that it was evident that, with a reasonable effort, their destruction might be rendered 

 certain. It is true that enough might hatch out on five acres to overrun and destroy 

 the crops on one hundred and sixty acres if the season should favor them, and no 

 effort be made to destroy them ; but, at the same time, it is equally true that if all on 

 the five acres are destroyed before they spread, the rest of the one hundred and sixty 

 acres, at least, will be saved. 



MIGRATING SWARMS FROM THE SOUTH. 



That a few swarms from the south have recently passed over the western part of the 

 State, going north, is undoubtedly true. So far but few, if any, have come down in 

 the settled districts, and have done no injury whatever. Heretofore the swarms moving 

 from the south northward toward their native habitat have not, so far as we are aware, 

 done any injury in this State. We do not apprehend any damage from them ; in fact, 

 this is precisely what the commission anticipated and predicted, and is one of the 

 strongest possible corroborations of the theory that they can never become permanent 

 residents of this part of the Mississippi Yalley. And we may as well reaffirm in this 

 connection our oft-repeated conviction, from what we know of the history and habits 

 of this species, that it is impossible for it ever to become a permanent resident of these 

 border States, and hence that the race must run out here, and that it can only be 

 continued by repeated invasions from its native habitat in the far northwest or Eocky 

 Mountain region. This disposition to return also confirms our repeated assertions that 

 it can never progress eastward as did the potato-beetle ; that its line of eastern progress 

 is as firmly fixed by climatic and physical causes as though its way were barred by 

 some insurmountable barrier. We therefore maintain that the people of these States 

 ought to confide in these conclusions of science which have been so signally borne out 

 by the facts. 



* # # * » « « 



CONCLUSION. 



In concluding this brief and hasty report, we have only to repeat what we have 

 already said— that we consider the danger from the young which have hatched out this 

 season in Nebraska over, and that this part of the problem is solved. We also helleve 

 that the long series of visitaiions has come to a close. There may be, and doubtless 

 will be, at irregular periods, visitations by migrating swarms, but it is not at all likely 

 that the present generation will witness another such a series as that which has just 

 passed. We append hereto, as a part of this report, a brief account of the means of 

 destroying the young and unfledged locusts which we have just issued in the form of 

 a special bulletin for Nebraska. 

 Very respectfully, 



CYRUS THOMAS. 



SAMUEL AUGHEY. 



