APPENDIX Vin. NEBRASKA DATA FOE 1^77. [129] 



the sun ; wind north and northwest ; weather clear. Nearly all the crops, in particu- 

 lar, corn-crops in Hall county were destroyed ; but hardly any eggs were deposited by 

 them here. They left before depositing their eggs and went into the southeast part oi" 

 Nebraska, into Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa. 



In the year 1875, grasshoppers appeared again in this county, June 24, with south- 

 west wind, and on August 8 and 10 with northwest wind, and the damage in August 

 was considerable. The greater number of them in 1875 were diseased and fell dead 

 frequently when flying. Maggots, numberinjg from one to eleven in each 'hopper, were 

 feeding oiq them within their bodies. Also little red parasites were frequently noticed 

 fastened to their wings or bodies. 



In the year 1866, the first swarm of grasshoppers arrived here on August 5, at 3 o'clock 

 p.m., with north west wind; weather clear. This swarm was not very large. On August 

 10 and 12, at m., large swarms arrived with northwest wind, and after a few days (August 

 13 and 14) commenced depositing their eggs. On the 14th some left, but at the same time 

 more and still larger swarms arrived ; weather clear and northwest wind prevailing. I 

 worked hard with ten hands for ten days to save my corn-crop, vegetable-garden, and 

 orchard, by smudging fires, adding freely pulverized sulphur, but eventually had to 

 abandon one field after another, thus leaving the 'hoppers the victors. They stripped 

 every fruit-tree of its foliage and took even the bark of the large limbs. Fortunately 

 the small grain crops were nearly all secured in our county before the grasshoppers 

 came, thus confining the damage done to corn-crops, vegetable-gardens, and orchards. 



The 'hoppers continued depositing their eggs until the 23d and 24th days of August, 

 1876, when the wind, which ever since the 15th of August had blown from the south 

 and southwest, changed again to the north and northwest, which carried all those 

 which were able to fly south and southeast. The extent of country devastated by 

 them, coming from north and northwest, reached from about the western boundary- 

 line of Nebraska to the Missouri as far south as the State of Nebraska is concerned, 

 and from the Platte bottom toward the northern boundary of the State, while farmers 

 twenty -five miles south of here got fair corn-crops, on account of the giasshopers 

 reaching them from ten to fourteen days later than U8> in large swarms. 



Of fruit-trees they relished the foliage of apple trees more than the foliage of crab 

 apple, pear, peach, cherry, or plum trees ; still all were more or less damaged, while 

 plum and crab-apple trees were damaged least. Of forest trees the coffee-bean tree, 

 box-elder, soft maple, honey locust, elm, beech, willow, Rocky Mountain evergreens, 

 red and white cedar, were injured and eaten by them but little, while black locust, 

 white or gray willow, white ash, catalpa, cottpnwood, silver poplar, black and white 

 walnut, European larch, American larch, Scotch pines, white pine, and Norway spruce, 

 were eaten oft' and injured a great deal more than those trees enumerated first. Grape- 

 vines, the cultivated as well as the wUd were let alone until the apple trees were all 

 stripped. 



The native grasses were injured but very little, while timothy, blue-grass, red-top, 

 and clover were eaten off clean by the full-grown 'hoppers. — [Wm. Stolly. 



Hooper, Dodge County. — The first time I noticed the Rocky Mountain locust in 

 this locality was June or July, 1859. They have since then, up to the year 1868, made 

 short visits, never doing any damage to crops, nor did they at any time leave any eggs 

 behind them. About the middle of September of the year last mentioned tliey came 

 upon us from the northwest in full force. * * * 



In 1876, wind northwest, fresh breeze, the first swarm arrived here, August 15, four 

 p. m ; clear, warm, with occasional flying dark clouds. The swarms were seen for 

 three hours in the distance, mistaken by some for banks of clouds. 



(Answer to question 2.) In 1876, on every dry day, when the wind was favorable 

 from the northwest or west for some ten days, swarms were leaving each day to the 

 south and southeast, others arriving from the west and northwest, and after, for two 

 weeks longer deposited their eggs and leaving as soon as the job was doDS. Those 

 "v^hich are hatched to the north have uniformly gone to the southeast, while the eggs 

 which these deposited, when hatched, as uniformly move in the direction the parents 

 came from. 



The Caloptenus spretus has such a spread of gauzy wings that they can neither fly 

 when the air is damp nor against the wind ; they rise only when the dew ia off, 10-11 

 a. m. to 4-5 p. m., and with no wind move about five mUes an hour, or faster with the 

 breeze, and high or low as the air is more or less dry, and highest at noon. * * 



(Answer to question 10.) A period of not less than ten days will elapse after full 

 wings are grown, to all appearance, before they will actually marshal their hosts, 

 which will bring it, as in 1867 and 1874, to the last days in June, and before which 

 there is no hope of being rid of them in this locality.— [C. F. Eiseley, May 14, 1877. 



Farmer's Valley, Hamilton Col^nty. — The young insects have not been noticed 

 to travel any particular direction. Having eaten a field of wheat, they have moved 

 north on one field, while on another they have moved south. They do not seem to be 

 governed by the points of the compass in their marching. The insects dropped on us 

 July 21, 1874, about 3 p. m., wiiid from the northeast, and destroyed all crops but 

 small grain, but departed July 31, 1874, about 11 a. m., wind northwest. 



[9 G] 



