APPENDIX I. — WHITMAN^S MINNESOTA REPORT. 



[11] 



burden of the parasites wbicli they carried. These bodies, whether different armies, 

 or one army changing its direction at different times, have swept across the State no 

 less than six times, apparently passing entirely beyond our borders in each movement — 



From July 3 to the Gth, northwesterly ; 



From July 8 to the 10th, southeasterly, apparently having turned at Morris, Breck- 

 inridge, and beyond ; 



July 11 and 12, northwesterly; 



July 20 and 21, southeasterly; 



July 28, again southeasterly; 



August 1 and 2, again southeasterly ; 



And again in heavy but not widely extended flights to the southeast on the 7th, 8th, 

 and 9th of August. 



In the passage of July 3 to 6 the locusts alighted heavily and destructively; all later 

 movements may be said to have been perfectly harmless as compared with previous 

 years, while it has been almost impossible to learn of a single case of laying or prepar- 

 ing to lay. As in former years, the locusts in alighting have almost entirely avoided 

 those localities where the young had been numerous in the spring. 



STATISTICS OF DAMAGE. 



The amount of losses resulting from locust ravages during the year 1877 has already 

 been given, so far as it can be now ascertained, in the early part of this report. I have 

 made no attempt whatever to gather the various guesses of farmers in the different 

 ravaged townships as to what this loss would be in bushels. The experience of two 

 years has shown that such estimates are far from accurate, and hence worthless. It 

 is no easy matter for a farmer to estimate the exact loss on his own fields. When it 

 comes to multiplying the error (almost always in excess) in a single town by several 

 scores of townships, such estimates lose their value altogether. A far more important 

 matter is the amount left undestroyed, and upon this point we have every reason to con- 

 gratulate ourselves. We have learned, even without accurate statistical returns, 

 enough to know already that our State has been blessed with a wheat crop certainly 

 equal to and probably exceeding any ever before raised in the State ; and this, too, 

 notwithstanding the fact that future returns may jjerhaps show that more bushels 

 have been destroyed than in any preceding year. 



To those who are interested in learning the exact amount of injury caused by locusts 

 to the four principal "crops during the last four years, the following tables, compiled 

 from the various reports of the commissioners of statistics of Minnesota, present -as 

 accurate statements as it is now possible to obtain : 



Statistics of locust injury. 



1875. 



1876. 



Total acreage of the State 



Total yield, as reported, in bushels 



Acres injured in the " grasshopper counties " 



Per cent, of State acreage injured. 



Busheld destroyed thereon 



Total crop of the " grasshopper counties," includ- 

 ing bushels destroyed 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the whole 

 crop in '" grasshopper counties " 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the whole 

 crop of the State 



1, 548, 713 



26, 402, 485 



74, 157 



4.79 



562, 852 



1,813,794 



31.03 



2.09 



1, 681, 830 

 23, 938, 172 



240, 417 

 14.29 



2, 646, 802 



6, 949, 114 

 38.09 



764, 109 

 079, 3C0 

 167, 872| 

 9.52 

 024, 972 



699, 896 



35.52 



6.31 



1, 873, 891 



18, 224, 357 



::jO, 460 



17.63 



3, 315. 240 



6, 545, 304 



50.65 



1.5.4 



OATS. 



I Total acreage of the State 



I Total yield, as reported, in bushels 



[ Acres injured in the " grasshopper counties" 



; Per cent, of the State acreage injured 



I Bushels destroyed thereon 



; Total crop of the " grasshopper counties," includ- 

 ing bushels destroyed 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the total 



crop in the " grasshopper counties " 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the total 

 crop of the State 



1873. 



368, 493 



12, 544, 536 



14, 079 



3.82 



213, 576 



783, 003 



27.28 



1.67 



383, 233 



967, 072 



62, 125 



16.21 



816, 733 



740, 030 



48.58 



14.21 



1875. 



18 V6. 



401, 381 



801,761 



38, 560i 



9.6 



127, 780 



199, 030 



35.26 



7. 55 



485, 2^7 



10, 819, 638 



82, 548 



17.01 



2, 251, 377 



3, 780, 292 



59.56 

 17. 22 



