﻿8 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  Taylor's 
  Bridge, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  22 
  miles 
  ; 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  their 
  flight 
  was 
  

   to 
  the 
  sonth 
  and 
  southeast. 
  August 
  30 
  locusts 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  abundance 
  

   for 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  miles 
  at 
  Pleasant 
  Valley 
  Station 
  (about 
  

   8,000 
  feet 
  elevation 
  ; 
  this 
  is 
  near 
  the 
  Idaho 
  line). 
  "At 
  Deer 
  Lodge 
  I 
  

   saw 
  a 
  few, 
  but 
  no 
  damage 
  was 
  done 
  by 
  them. 
  It 
  was 
  reported 
  to 
  me 
  at 
  

   Helena 
  that 
  on 
  Sun 
  Eiver 
  grasshoppers 
  appeared 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  as 
  

   also 
  near 
  Clark's 
  Fork, 
  at 
  Yellowstone 
  Eiver." 
  

  

  Immigrant 
  grasshoppers 
  have 
  made 
  their 
  appearance 
  on 
  East 
  Gallatin, 
  and 
  have 
  

   already 
  destroyed 
  several 
  crops. 
  They 
  are 
  still 
  coming, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  feared 
  they 
  will 
  do 
  

   more 
  damage 
  than 
  ever 
  before. 
  The 
  'hoppers 
  that 
  hatched 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  ate 
  up 
  a 
  

   few 
  crops 
  entirely, 
  and 
  it 
  looks 
  now 
  as 
  though 
  they 
  will 
  make 
  a 
  clean 
  sweep, 
  except 
  

   under 
  the 
  mountains. 
  — 
  [Bocky 
  Mountain 
  Husbandman, 
  August 
  8, 
  1878. 
  

  

  Grasshoppers 
  in 
  various 
  localities 
  are 
  reported 
  hatched 
  and 
  hatching 
  in 
  myriads. 
  

   In 
  the 
  grain 
  sections 
  of 
  Meagher 
  County, 
  in 
  the 
  Prickly 
  Pear 
  Valley, 
  and 
  elsewhere, 
  

   the 
  pests 
  have 
  shown 
  their 
  destructive 
  instincts, 
  devouring 
  the 
  wheat 
  and 
  all 
  kinds 
  

   of 
  young 
  vegetation. 
  Farmers 
  are 
  flooding 
  their 
  fields, 
  and 
  millions 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  in 
  

   this 
  manner 
  are 
  swept 
  away. 
  Other 
  methods 
  are 
  adopted 
  to 
  combat 
  the 
  encroaching 
  

   insects, 
  the 
  most 
  effective, 
  perhaps, 
  being 
  that 
  of 
  scattering 
  straw 
  in 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  ap- 
  

   proach, 
  setting 
  fire 
  to 
  the 
  same, 
  and 
  singing 
  the 
  'hoppers 
  to 
  a 
  helpless 
  state, 
  or 
  burn- 
  

   ing 
  them 
  to 
  a 
  roast. 
  Every 
  product 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  promises 
  this 
  year 
  to 
  find 
  an 
  active 
  

   home 
  demand, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  hoped 
  that 
  the 
  farmers 
  will 
  exhaust 
  every 
  means 
  in 
  their 
  

   power 
  to 
  ward 
  off 
  an 
  enemy 
  active 
  in 
  dissipating 
  the 
  fruits 
  of 
  an 
  important 
  industry. 
  

   — 
  [Quoted 
  by 
  the 
  Denver 
  News 
  of 
  June 
  11, 
  1878, 
  from 
  the 
  Helena 
  (Montana) 
  Herald. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  James 
  Fergus 
  writes 
  us 
  from 
  near 
  Helena 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  this 
  

   year, 
  particularly 
  in 
  the 
  lowest 
  valleys, 
  the 
  eggs 
  and 
  young 
  locusts 
  were 
  

   destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  cold, 
  snowy, 
  freezing 
  weather. 
  Late 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  — 
  an 
  early 
  warm 
  spring 
  — 
  locusts 
  appeared 
  on 
  Smith 
  Eiver, 
  doing, 
  

   however, 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  harm. 
  On 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri 
  Eiver 
  they 
  did 
  great 
  

   damage 
  to 
  the 
  late-sown 
  wheat. 
  On 
  Middle 
  Creek 
  it 
  is 
  stated 
  that 
  fully 
  

   one-fourth 
  of 
  the 
  entire 
  crop 
  is 
  destroyed 
  by 
  'hoppers. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  facts 
  here 
  presented 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  locusts 
  which 
  

   bred 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1878 
  in 
  the 
  Upper 
  Missouri, 
  Gallatin, 
  Prickly 
  Pear 
  

   Valleys, 
  and 
  about 
  Bozeruan, 
  constituted 
  the 
  swarms 
  which 
  from 
  the 
  

   middle 
  of 
  July 
  to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  August 
  passed 
  over 
  the 
  divide 
  at 
  Pleasant 
  

   Yalley 
  into 
  Eastern 
  Idaho, 
  and 
  Cache 
  and 
  Malad 
  Valleys 
  of 
  Utah, 
  and 
  

   passed 
  south 
  to 
  the 
  region 
  about 
  Salt 
  Lake. 
  

  

  It 
  thus 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  locusts 
  which 
  bred 
  in 
  Central 
  Montana 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring 
  of 
  1878 
  hatched 
  from 
  eggs 
  laid 
  in 
  that 
  region 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  

   of 
  1877 
  by 
  swarms 
  which 
  came 
  over 
  the 
  Belt 
  Mountains 
  from 
  the 
  Yellow- 
  

   stone 
  and 
  adjacent 
  valleys 
  lying 
  to 
  the 
  north. 
  (See 
  First 
  Eeport 
  of 
  the 
  

   Commission, 
  pp. 
  154 
  and 
  155.) 
  The 
  general 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  migration 
  

   agrees 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  former 
  years, 
  as 
  stated 
  in 
  our 
  First 
  Eeport. 
  

  

  Owing 
  to 
  the 
  vigilance 
  and 
  activity 
  of 
  the 
  farmers 
  of 
  Central 
  Montana, 
  

   the 
  damage 
  done 
  was 
  light. 
  The 
  following 
  extracts 
  from 
  the 
  Rocky 
  

   Mountain 
  Husbandman 
  will 
  show 
  how 
  the 
  young 
  unwinged 
  locusts 
  were 
  

   met 
  and 
  vanquished 
  : 
  

  

  Steven 
  Howes, 
  near 
  Bozemau, 
  has 
  rigged 
  up 
  a 
  machine 
  to 
  catch 
  the 
  grasshoppers 
  

   in 
  a 
  bag. 
  Oil 
  Tuesday 
  morning 
  last, 
  while 
  the 
  'hoppers 
  were 
  numb 
  and 
  chilled, 
  he 
  

   ran 
  the 
  machine 
  over 
  eight 
  acres 
  of 
  ground, 
  and 
  hauled 
  in 
  rive 
  bushels 
  of 
  them. 
  He 
  

  

  