﻿ENCOURAGEMENT 
  TO 
  SETTLING 
  THE 
  PLAINS. 
  303 
  

  

  on 
  by 
  11 
  Fautrat 
  in 
  France, 
  and 
  recently 
  recorded 
  in 
  the 
  Comptes 
  Rendu* 
  

   of 
  the 
  French 
  Academy, 
  strougly 
  confirm 
  the 
  belief 
  and 
  the 
  position 
  gen- 
  

   erally 
  maintained, 
  and 
  well 
  set 
  forth 
  in 
  Marsh's 
  "Man 
  and 
  Nature"; 
  

   but 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  equally 
  true, 
  from 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  careful 
  researches 
  

   that 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  subject, 
  that 
  the 
  breaking 
  and 
  cultivation 
  

   of 
  the 
  soil 
  aud 
  planting 
  of 
  other 
  forage 
  and 
  cereal 
  crops 
  have 
  also 
  a 
  

   marked 
  effect, 
  probably 
  as 
  great 
  as 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  trees, 
  in 
  producing 
  

   the 
  same 
  effect. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  experience 
  of 
  If. 
  Tisserand, 
  341 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  

   strongly 
  confirmed 
  receutly 
  by 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  K. 
  Hilton, 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  read 
  before 
  

   the 
  Kansas 
  Academy 
  of 
  Science, 
  on 
  Eainfall 
  in 
  its 
  Belations 
  to 
  Kansas 
  

   Farming. 
  He 
  maintains 
  that 
  the 
  actual 
  amount 
  of 
  rain 
  which 
  falls 
  in 
  

   a 
  given 
  district 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  measure 
  of 
  the 
  ability 
  of 
  that 
  district 
  to 
  with- 
  

   stand 
  drought, 
  but 
  rather 
  the 
  amount 
  absorbed 
  by 
  the 
  soil 
  and 
  held 
  

   for 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  plants. 
  The 
  gulf 
  winds 
  which 
  blow 
  over 
  Kansas 
  are 
  as 
  

   humid 
  as 
  those 
  which 
  reach 
  farther 
  east, 
  but 
  the 
  rainfall 
  in 
  that 
  State 
  

   is 
  less 
  because 
  the 
  soil 
  offers 
  less 
  favorable 
  conditions 
  for 
  precipitation. 
  

   He 
  shows 
  clearly 
  that 
  the 
  cultivable 
  area 
  is 
  increasing 
  with 
  the 
  advance 
  

   of 
  settlement, 
  and 
  in 
  proportion 
  as 
  the 
  soil 
  is 
  plowed 
  deeply 
  and 
  the 
  area 
  

   of 
  ponds 
  of 
  water 
  and 
  the 
  cultivated 
  fields 
  of 
  growing 
  crops 
  extends. 
  

   Settlement, 
  therefore, 
  providing 
  it 
  be 
  not 
  purely 
  pastoral, 
  will 
  not 
  alone 
  

   cause 
  a 
  decrease 
  in 
  locust 
  injury 
  by 
  virtue 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  locusts, 
  

   whether 
  in 
  or 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  egg, 
  that 
  may 
  be 
  slain, 
  but 
  indirectly, 
  by 
  causing 
  

   an 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  moisture 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  since 
  the 
  migratory 
  locust 
  is 
  

   essentially 
  a 
  denizen 
  of 
  arid 
  regions. 
  In 
  a 
  recent 
  trip 
  to 
  the 
  Northwest, 
  

   Professor 
  Thomas 
  was 
  so 
  deeply 
  impressed 
  with 
  the 
  important 
  bearing 
  

   which 
  the 
  settlement 
  of 
  Dakota 
  had 
  upon 
  the 
  locust 
  question 
  in 
  Min- 
  

   nesota 
  that 
  he 
  communicated 
  to 
  Governor 
  Pillsbury 
  the 
  following 
  views, 
  

   which 
  we 
  give 
  at 
  length, 
  because 
  the 
  same 
  views 
  are 
  equally 
  applicable 
  

   to 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  plains 
  area: 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  promise, 
  I 
  give 
  here 
  my 
  reasons 
  for 
  believing 
  that 
  in 
  time 
  Minnesota 
  

   •will 
  be 
  comparatively 
  free 
  from 
  locust 
  invasion. 
  As 
  stated 
  in 
  my 
  verbal 
  communi- 
  

   cation 
  to 
  you, 
  no 
  one 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  history 
  and 
  habits 
  of 
  these 
  insects, 
  and 
  who 
  

   has 
  witnessed 
  their 
  flights 
  as 
  in 
  1874 
  and 
  1876, 
  expects 
  or 
  hopes 
  to 
  find 
  any 
  means 
  of 
  

   suddenly 
  exterminating 
  them 
  or 
  stopping 
  their 
  flights. 
  If 
  this 
  is 
  ever 
  accomplished 
  

   it 
  must 
  be 
  done 
  gradually 
  and 
  by 
  making 
  use 
  of 
  such 
  natural 
  forces 
  as 
  may 
  be 
  par- 
  

   tially 
  within 
  man's 
  control. 
  

  

  The 
  facts 
  ascertained 
  by 
  the 
  commission 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  long 
  series 
  of 
  invasions 
  

   from 
  1873 
  to 
  1877 
  led 
  me 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  but 
  little 
  hope 
  that 
  your 
  State 
  

   would 
  ever 
  be 
  relieved 
  of 
  this 
  fearful 
  pest. 
  This 
  opinion 
  was 
  based 
  upon 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  

   their 
  apparent 
  stronghold 
  upon 
  and 
  long 
  continuance 
  in 
  the 
  southwestern 
  portion 
  of 
  

   the 
  State 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  belief 
  I 
  then 
  entertained, 
  that 
  a 
  large 
  portion 
  of 
  Dakota 
  east 
  of 
  

   the 
  Coteau 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  could 
  never 
  be 
  made 
  an 
  agricultural 
  section 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  

   its 
  supposed 
  arid 
  condition. 
  

  

  A 
  fact 
  then 
  suspected, 
  which 
  will 
  hereafter 
  be 
  explained, 
  and 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  and 
  

   ascertained 
  the 
  present 
  year 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  agricultural 
  capacity 
  of 
  Eastern 
  Da. 
  

   kota 
  have 
  served 
  to 
  materially 
  modify 
  my 
  former 
  opinion 
  and 
  to 
  cause 
  me 
  to 
  hope 
  and, 
  

   I 
  may 
  say, 
  believe, 
  that 
  the 
  day 
  is 
  not 
  very 
  far 
  distant 
  when 
  Minnesota 
  will 
  no 
  longer 
  

   have 
  reason 
  to 
  fear 
  the 
  invasions 
  of 
  the 
  locusts. 
  

  

  Ml 
  Cf. 
  Conclusions 
  of 
  M. 
  Tisserand, 
  as 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  report 
  by 
  John 
  P. 
  Reynolds 
  on 
  

   the 
  State 
  of 
  Illinois 
  at 
  the 
  Universal 
  Exposition 
  of 
  1867 
  at 
  Paris, 
  p. 
  124. 
  

  

  