[12] EEPORT UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



Statistics of locust injury — Continued. 



BARLEY. 



1873. 



1874. 



1875. 



Total acreage of the State 



Total yield, as reported, in bushels 



Acresinjured in the ' ' grasshopper counties " 



Per cent, of State acreage injured 



Bushels destroyed thereon _ 



Total crop of the "grasshopper counties," includ- 

 ing bushels destroyed 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the whole 

 crop in the ' ' grasshopper counties " 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the whole 

 crop of the State 



35, 501 

 669, 415 



29, 028 



614, 545 



2,304 



7.93 



58, 962 



121, 002 



48.73 

 8.75 



40, 803 

 1, 230, 420 



1, 565|! 

 3.84 



41. 059 



117, 731i 



34.87 



3.23 



69, 515 



1, 600, 335 



6,440 



9.26 



159, 368 



309, 090 



51.56 



9.06 



CORN. 



1873. 



1874. 



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 



Bushels destroyed thereon 



Total crop of the " grasshopper counties," includ- 

 ing bushels destroyed 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the whole 

 crop in the " grasshopper counties " 



Loss per cent, of what would have been the whole 

 crop of the State 



209, 540 



457, 368 



8,368 



4. 



125, 938 



320, 612 



39. 28 



1.91 



256, 296 



, 340, 342 



34, 139 



1.1. 31 



738, 415 



, 128, 594 



34.69 



9.14 



297, 316 



7,19.0,581 



52, 755 



17. 41 



790, 982 



2. 560, 390 



294, 969 



8, Oil, 079 



55, 211 



18.72 



1, 305, 169 



2. 115, 982 



14.01 



In regard to wliat are here termed the " grasshopper counties," not always the same 

 from one year to another, the x)ercentage of loss is at best only an average of injury, 

 varying from an almost total loss of wheat in some counties to nearly a full crop in 

 others. As it is impossible now to learn how much was harvested each year on the 

 injured acreage, the showing is indefinite. Still it shows that certain counties have 

 been deprived of an average of from 38 to 45 per cent, of their grain crops for four 

 years in succession. This loss has fallen in a large measure uiDon a frontier community, 

 just entering upon its pioneer existence, and forced by circumstances to depend mostly 

 upon the very crops which were most liable to locust injury. Even in this universal 

 struggle for existence, men have been able not only to maintain their footing, but in 

 many cases to find profit in their venture, while a single harvest like that of the pres- 

 ent year goes far to undo the losses of four preceding years. 



But the percentage for the State as a whole is exact and definite. It shows that 

 Minnesota has lost, from the years 1873 to 1876, inclusive, about 8^ per cent, of the 

 wheat crop, 10 per cent, of the oat crop, 7 per cent, of the barley crop, and 9 per cent, 

 of -the corn crop, while at the worst only about 18 per cent, of its wheat acreage has 

 ever been injured in any one year. This is a favorable comi)arison with other States 

 in regard to locust injury, and more than favorable in comparison with States that 

 have lost more from the chinch-bug in a single year than has been destroyed by all 

 insects together in Minnesota since its settlement. Our unusual experience since 1873, 

 unusual not only for Minnesota, but unusual in the history of any agricultural com- 

 munity, may not be repeated for centuries. At least it is certain that with a wider 

 knowledge of the origin and nature of the evil, with enlarged resources, with more 

 diversified industries, and with better facilities for meeting the various backsets that 

 every grain-producing State must face sooner or later, the temporary presence of the 

 locust in Minnesota will not, even in the near future, seem such a scourge to ourselves 

 and a terror to others as the last five years have proved it. 

 Respectfully submitted. 



ALLEN WHITMAN. 



Professor Cyrus Thomas, 



United States Entomological Commission. 



