﻿[20] 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  Jackson, 
  Jackson 
  County, 
  June 
  7, 
  1877. 
  

  

  Grasshoppers 
  are 
  not 
  so 
  numerous 
  in 
  this 
  locality 
  as 
  was 
  anticipated 
  when 
  they 
  first 
  

   commenced 
  to 
  hatch. 
  The 
  unprecedented 
  heavy 
  rain 
  that 
  fell 
  May 
  20 
  must 
  have 
  de- 
  

   stroyed 
  myriads 
  of 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  were 
  deposited 
  by 
  two 
  different 
  swarms 
  that 
  lit 
  here 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  

   July 
  and 
  fore 
  part 
  of 
  August 
  last. 
  

  

  The 
  eones 
  Dearest 
  the 
  surface 
  commenced 
  to 
  hatch 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  April, 
  and 
  

   as 
  late 
  as 
  May 
  24 
  cones 
  turned 
  up 
  (while 
  plowing) 
  and 
  would 
  burst 
  from 
  live 
  minutes* 
  

   exposure 
  to 
  the 
  air 
  and 
  the 
  sun, 
  until 
  the 
  plowed 
  ground 
  was 
  covered 
  with 
  the 
  little 
  

   struggling 
  pests. 
  The 
  yellow-headed 
  blackbirds, 
  in 
  the 
  meantime, 
  were 
  enjoying 
  

   a 
  carnival 
  upon 
  that 
  plowed 
  ground 
  glorious 
  to 
  behold. 
  

  

  The 
  'hoppers, 
  true 
  to 
  the 
  instinct 
  with 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  endowed, 
  invariably 
  deposit 
  

   their 
  eggs 
  in 
  solid 
  bare 
  ground, 
  as 
  the 
  hatching 
  process 
  depends 
  entirely 
  upon 
  the 
  

   action 
  of 
  the 
  sun 
  and 
  air. 
  

  

  Were 
  it 
  not 
  for 
  the 
  migratory 
  swarms 
  liable 
  to 
  settle 
  down 
  upon 
  my 
  farm 
  from 
  time 
  

   to 
  time, 
  the 
  task 
  of 
  annihilating 
  grasshoppers 
  upon 
  my 
  own 
  premises 
  might 
  be 
  easily 
  

   done 
  : 
  First, 
  by 
  preserving 
  the 
  grass 
  upon 
  pasture 
  and 
  meadow 
  until 
  the 
  'hoppers 
  were 
  

   all 
  hatched 
  and 
  the 
  dead 
  grass 
  real 
  dry, 
  and 
  then 
  fire 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  windward 
  side 
  during 
  

   a 
  rousing 
  wind. 
  The 
  tilled 
  land 
  I 
  should 
  plow 
  with 
  a 
  breaking 
  plow, 
  such 
  that 
  would 
  

   scour, 
  with 
  a 
  device 
  attached 
  to 
  the 
  fore 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  beam 
  to 
  skim 
  the 
  surface, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  

   convey 
  all 
  the 
  eggs 
  snugly 
  into 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  furrow 
  and 
  turn 
  up 
  subsoil 
  enough 
  

   on 
  top 
  that 
  neither 
  drill 
  nor 
  harrow 
  would 
  disturb 
  them 
  while 
  seeding 
  in 
  the 
  spring. 
  

  

  Besides 
  destroying 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  pests, 
  such 
  a 
  thorough 
  stirring 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  would 
  

   well 
  repay 
  for 
  the 
  extra 
  power 
  needed 
  to 
  draw 
  the 
  plow. 
  Thence 
  highly 
  cultivated 
  

   and 
  thickly 
  settled 
  regions 
  need 
  not 
  lose 
  but 
  one 
  crop, 
  the 
  one 
  that 
  the 
  j>ests 
  might 
  

   alight 
  upon. 
  But 
  in 
  these 
  parts 
  where 
  so 
  many 
  farms 
  have 
  been 
  vacated, 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  

   settlers 
  that 
  remain 
  being 
  generally 
  miles 
  apart, 
  with 
  every 
  atom 
  of 
  energy 
  and 
  enthu- 
  

   siasm 
  within 
  them, 
  so 
  to 
  speak, 
  being 
  smothered 
  during 
  the 
  long 
  siege, 
  the 
  question 
  

   at 
  once 
  assumes 
  a 
  magnitude 
  beyond 
  conception, 
  and 
  the 
  only 
  "safe 
  course 
  for 
  us 
  to 
  

   pursue 
  under 
  present 
  circumstances, 
  is 
  to 
  till 
  less 
  ground 
  and 
  raise 
  more 
  live 
  stock, 
  

   for 
  the 
  native 
  grasses, 
  which 
  are 
  never 
  devoured 
  enough 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  by 
  grasshoppers, 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  excelled 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  for 
  fattening 
  stock. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  substance/ 
  which 
  appears 
  and 
  tastes 
  like 
  saleratus, 
  found 
  in 
  streaks 
  

   through 
  all 
  the 
  soils 
  in 
  these 
  parts 
  ; 
  the 
  rains 
  wash 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  knolls 
  until 
  the 
  hol- 
  

   lows 
  are 
  white 
  with 
  it, 
  and 
  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  think 
  the 
  'hopper^ 
  have 
  a 
  tendency 
  to 
  

   subsist 
  upon 
  vegetation 
  impregnated 
  with 
  it. 
  

  

  JOHN 
  DAVIS. 
  

  

  DATA 
  FOR 
  IOWA. 
  

  

  Tabor, 
  Fremont 
  County, 
  dpril 
  11, 
  1877. 
  

  

  Your 
  letter 
  to 
  President 
  Brooks 
  was 
  handed 
  me. 
  I 
  shall 
  be 
  ready 
  to 
  do 
  all 
  I 
  can 
  to 
  

   assist 
  in 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  studying 
  and 
  exterminating 
  grasshoppers. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  experiments 
  I 
  perhaps 
  might 
  give 
  now 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  later. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  last 
  February, 
  after 
  considerable 
  pleasant 
  weather, 
  I 
  dug 
  a 
  lot 
  

   of 
  eggs 
  and 
  kept 
  them 
  about 
  ten 
  days 
  on 
  the 
  window-sill 
  (a 
  south 
  window) 
  in 
  my 
  

   recitation-room, 
  in 
  a 
  crayon-box, 
  when 
  they 
  commenced 
  hatching 
  and 
  so 
  coutiuued 
  for 
  

   about 
  ten 
  days 
  more, 
  when 
  I 
  tested 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  cold 
  upon 
  them, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  having 
  

   already 
  shed 
  their 
  skins 
  once. 
  

  

  I 
  first 
  placed 
  some 
  in 
  a 
  dry 
  test-tube 
  and 
  plunged 
  it 
  into 
  a 
  freezing-mixture 
  cooled 
  

   to 
  10° 
  F. 
  ; 
  after 
  keeping 
  them 
  one 
  hour, 
  all 
  (20) 
  were 
  dead, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  doubt 
  half 
  

   that 
  time 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  sufficient. 
  

  

  I 
  then 
  placed 
  the 
  box 
  with 
  the 
  rest 
  upon 
  a 
  stone 
  out-doors 
  and 
  left 
  it 
  over 
  night. 
  

   In 
  the 
  morning 
  tho 
  thermometer 
  was 
  at 
  15° 
  F., 
  and 
  placing 
  one 
  i:i 
  the 
  box, 
  it 
  soon 
  fell 
  

   to 
  18°. 
  I 
  left 
  the 
  box 
  in 
  this 
  positiou 
  till 
  noon, 
  to 
  avoid 
  sudden 
  changes 
  of 
  tempera- 
  

   ture. 
  The 
  day 
  was 
  pleasant, 
  and 
  at 
  noon 
  I 
  found 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  (out 
  of 
  probably 
  15 
  or 
  

   20) 
  moving, 
  but 
  I 
  saw 
  nothing 
  of 
  them 
  after. 
  It 
  evidently 
  killed 
  them. 
  However, 
  I 
  

   found 
  on 
  bringing 
  the 
  box 
  to 
  the 
  warmer 
  air 
  of 
  our 
  living 
  room, 
  that 
  about 
  a 
  dozen 
  

   new 
  ones 
  came 
  out, 
  readily 
  distinguished 
  by 
  their 
  lighter 
  color. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  observed, 
  also, 
  that 
  those 
  just 
  emerging 
  from 
  the 
  egg 
  are 
  liable 
  to 
  be 
  killed 
  

   by 
  their 
  elders. 
  I 
  saw 
  this 
  done 
  repeatedly. 
  It 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  owing 
  to 
  lack 
  of 
  food 
  

   at 
  first. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  the 
  opinion 
  that 
  most 
  of 
  our 
  eggs 
  are 
  dead, 
  but 
  have 
  not 
  satisfied 
  myself 
  

   fully 
  by 
  observations. 
  This 
  opinion 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  many 
  egga 
  are 
  dried 
  up; 
  

   many 
  examined 
  seem 
  no 
  farther 
  along 
  than 
  in 
  February. 
  Again, 
  those 
  in 
  exception- 
  

   ally 
  dry 
  places 
  hatched, 
  although 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  more 
  exposed 
  during 
  the 
  winter. 
  

  

  JAMES 
  E. 
  TODD. 
  

  

  