DAMAGE IN MISSOURI IN 1875. 117 



Eiley's eighth report as State entomologist of Missouri present a some- 

 what vivid picture of the ravages of the locusts in that State in 1875 : 



" In Saint Joseph the grasshoppers are reported as the sands of the sea, and sweep- 

 ing everything before them." 



Atchison County. — "The locusts are taking everything green as fast as it appears 

 above the ground in this part of the county." 



Bates County. — " It is actually alarming and distressing to see all our crops and pas- 

 tures eaten off until they are as bare as in midwinter." "The grasshoppers have de- 

 stroyed the country." " There is scarcely a green thing left in the country. All of our 

 crops are destroyed." 



Buchanan County. — "I think by the time the hoppers leave here they will have de- 

 voured everything green. The crops are about all destroyed now, together with the 

 pastures and meadows. The country would present the appearance of winter were it 

 not for the foliage of the timber. The leaves are all stripped off the haztl bushes." 



Cass County. — " Those persons at a distance and out of range of the plague can have 

 but a faint idea of our situation, nor can they comprehend the fearful ravages made 

 by these pests. They have already eaten up the wheat and oats, and are taking the 

 corn that is planted as fast as it appears above the ground. Our gardens and meadows 

 have been totally despoiled, and our once beautiful flower-flecked prairies now look as 

 desolate and barren as the desert. Our stock will either have to be sent off or starve, 

 as there is nothing for them to eat. The influence of the plague is being severely felt 

 in our cities and towns by all classes. Business is becoming stagnated, work of all 

 kinds is on the decline, and gloom and despondency fill almost every heart." 



Clinton County. — " All the meadows, both clover and timothy are absolutely destroyed, 

 and nothing but frequent and heavy rains will save the blue grass. The devastation 

 is much heavier and more universal on the west and south sides of the county. The 

 hazel and undergrowth are leafless as in winter; all the email fruits of every descrip- 

 tion are destroyed."- 



Gentry County. — They ate all the wheat that was on high land, also, oats nnd corn ; 

 all garden vegetables and a great portion of the fruit. Imagine every green thing on 

 the face of the earth eaten entirely up, the meadows and blue grass pastures as bare 

 of vegetation as the center of a State road that is traveled a great deal, and you can 

 probably form some idea of our condition at the time. 



Henry County. — " The locusts have already destroyed a large portion of the crops in 

 sections of this county, and still continue their work of devastation. The western and 

 northern part is almost a desert, there being scarcely a vestige of anything green 

 remaining to be seen." 



Jackson County. — "Pastures have been stripped of foliage, oat, and wheat fields have 

 been swept, gardens are bare of any growing vegetable, and the corn-fields are alike 

 destitute of any indications that anything has been planted. The small fruits are 

 irrevocably gone, and the larger fruits are now becoming a prey to their devouring 

 powers. They swarm into the houses, hopping and climbing in every place that is noD 

 absolutely closed against them." 



Saint Clair County. — " The grasshoppers have eaten up all the flax, all the wheat, 

 and corn, and now are attacking everything green even grass, and three weeks hence 

 will witness a country as barren as the grim deserts of Africa." 



We could multiply quotations and extracts from various sources, and 

 from our own correspondence the past season, but these will suffice to 

 convey an idea of the terrible havoc this insect scourge inflicts upon 

 the farmers of a district which it invades in full force. We give them 

 for this purpose as no amount of statistics and figures would ever 

 convey a correct idea of the sufferings of a locust-ravaged pioneer 

 settlement. 



