ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSION. 6 



2. Date aud time of day of the departure of swarms. 



2a. Direction and force of the wind at the time. 



2b. Temperature and cliaracter of the weather at the time. 



2c. Direction of the flight, density, and extent of the swarms. 



3. Date when the first eggs, if any, were deposited the present year. 



4. Date when the eggs were most numerously hatching the present year. 



5. Date when the eggs were most numerously hatching in j)revious years. 



6. Proportion of eggs that failed to hatch the present year, and probable causes of 

 such failure. 



7. Nature of the soil and situations in which the eggs were most largely deposited. 



8. Nature of the soil and situations in which the young were most numerously 

 hatched. 



9. Date at which the first insect acquired full wings. 



10. Date when the winged insects first began to migrate. 



11. Estimate the injury done in your county and State. 



12. Crops which suffered most. 



13. Crops most easily protected. 



14. Crops which suffered least. 



15. The prevailing direction in which the young insects traveled, and any other 

 facts in relation to the marching of the young. 



IG. The means employed in your section for the destruction of the unfledged insec s, 

 or to protect crops from their ravages, and how far these proved satisfactory. 



17. The means employed in your section for the destruction of the winged insects, 

 or to protect crojps from their ravages, and how far these have proved satisfactory. 



18. Descriptions, and, if j)ossible, figures of such mechanical contrivances as have 

 proved useful in your locality for the destruction of either the young or the winged 

 insects. 



19. If your section was not visited in 1876, please state this fact. 



20. If visited any previous years, please give the dates. 



21. To what extent have birds, domestic fowls, and other animals, domestic or wild, 

 been useful in destroying these insects. 



22. State the ratio of prairie to timber in your section or in your county. 



23. State all you know about the habits of the young or full-grown insects during 

 the night , and especially wliether you have ever known them to march or continue to fly after 

 the sun is down, and if so, how long into the night. 



24. The amount of damage to fruit and shade trees, and the most satisfactory means 

 emx^loyed in your section to protect them. 



CIRCULAR No. 2. 



Saint Louis, Mo., , 187 . 



Mr. : 



Dear Sir: With a view of securing co-operation, and of obtaining data in the par- 

 ticular divisions of the subject assigned to me, I beg leave to call your attention more 

 particularly to the following topics, and ask your careful consideration of the same: 



I. Natural History.— The natural history of the species has been already pretty 

 thoroughly studied, so far as the development from the egg to the mature insect is con- 

 cerned. Yet I shall be glad to have you communicate any facts or observations in your 

 possession that you believe to be new or unrecorded. As to the habits of the species, 

 there is more room for fresh observations, as the habits vary somewhat with locality, 

 and my own studies have been mostly made in Missouri and Kansas. I would direct 



