APPENDIX III. — TEXAS DATA FOR 1877. [65] 



9. 1 found the first winged locusts on the 5th of April. 



10. The iirst started Mny 8, in considerable numbers. 



11. The damage in Dallas County and the State; is estimated at one-third for wheat 

 and at one-half for corn. The latter, howevir, could be rejilanted; therefore the dam- 

 age, in consequence of favorable weather, was reduced on more work. 



12. 13, 14. Wheat sutfered most, then corn ; grass, and barley were seldom touched, 

 and as cotton was not planted before the locusts left the country, it was not damaged 

 at all. Against it grape-vines, peaches, and other fruit-trees suffered considerable. 

 Potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, i&c., were nearly all destroyed by the young locusts, as in 

 the fall previously by the winged ones. Remarkably enough, they did not touch the 

 sweet potatoes. 



15. After my own minute observation, the unwinged locusts moved from southwest 

 to northeast ; fences, creeks, &c., changed somewhat that direction. The very young 

 ones assembled already in very thick masses. After they consumed the scarcely devel- 

 oped leaves of the lower plants, I saw them eat also dry leaves on the bottom ; then 

 they climbed on dry stalks and consumed the old leaves. They migrate nearly always 

 after each transformation, and the more they grow the more they travel. Every far- 

 mer I consulted confirmed me that their fields were entered every time from the south 

 side, with more or less deviation according to the obstacles, but never from tljo north 

 side. The newly winged insects don't eat anything before their departure ; from three 

 to five days elapse before they start when they are winged, as it requires a certain 

 time for the wings to get strong. 



16. Means for the destruction of the unfledged insects were very little resorted to. 

 I did not hear that farmers made ditches around their cultivated land, nor do they 

 employ machines. Newspapers mentioned from New Braunsfels that there a machine 

 was used. But when I got information about it, I understood that eight or ten years 

 ago somebody invented one and used it in gardens, but that was all. In gardens, peo- 

 ple used brooms against the locusts, and burnt them with dry hay and straw, but 

 almost without any good result. More was effected by small chickens ; hens with their 

 young ones protected the crop in the gardens to a certain extent. Some farmers pro- 

 tected their fruit-trees by twisting a piece of cotton around the stem or putting tar 

 on it. 



17. No means were employed for the destruction of the winged insects. After their 

 arrival in fall, wheat, corn, barley, oats, &c.,. were already secured, and the cotton ripe 

 nearly all over, so that farmers told me that the cotton-picking was much easier, as 

 the locusts ate the leaves up. 



20. In October, 1874, swarms of insects came to Dallas, but only one-tenth as much 

 as in 1876. In spring, 1875, the young locusts did not do any damage. 



21. The following wild birds are especially very useful in the destruction of locusts: 

 Charadrius virginiciis (Plover), Charadrius moniavvs (Mountain Plover), Cupidonia 

 cupido (Prairie Chicken), Meleagris gallopago (Turkey), Orti/x rirginiana (Quail), Nn- 

 men'ius longirostris (Curlew), the common domestic fowl, hogs and opossums, especially 

 insects of prey, Tachince, &c. 



As the locusts only appear here at intervals of eight or ten years, it is not surprising 

 that they are not much feared by the inhabitants of this State. 



It is difficult to obtain satisfactory or authentic information, as no special attention 

 was given by any one to the observation of locusts. 



Dallas, Texas, August 12, 1877. 



MISCELLANEOUS EEPORTS. 



Notes from Dallas County jyrefvious to tlie year 1877. 

 [By J. Beverschau.] 



I came to this county February, 1856. The fall previous a great number of grass- 

 hoppers made their appearance, destroying bythe way all green vegetation ; in a field 

 of wheat of about 30 acres not a blade of it could be seen in February, but in March 

 the wheat began to grow again, and, if my recollection is correct, 12 or 15 bushels to 

 the acre was made out of that field. The grain was of good quality. I don't think 

 they deposited any eggs. I don't remember having seen any young 'hoppers the next 

 spring, or hearing there were any. 



From that time, I believe hardly a year has passed without grasshoppers in the fall, 

 but these in so small a quantity as to excite no alarm among the farmers except in the 

 following years. 



In the fall of 1867 much was said about immense swarms of locusts advancing both 

 from west and north. They n ade their appearance at Wcatherford, in Parker County, 

 two months before they came here. The following is from mj note-book : 



October 15. — Wind south and light. Legions of 'hoppers at noon ; traveling eastward. 

 They were not high in the air, but flying low on the prairie, alighting frequently and 

 [5G] 



