﻿APPEIVBIX 
  VII. 
  

  

  REPOET 
  OF 
  NOTES 
  MADE 
  BY 
  A. 
  J. 
  CHIPMAN. 
  

  

  Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  Oetober 
  13, 
  1880. 
  

  

  Sir: 
  Acting 
  under 
  your 
  instructions 
  as 
  an 
  agent 
  of 
  the 
  Entomolog- 
  

   ical 
  Commission 
  to 
  make 
  investigations 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  appearance, 
  if 
  any, 
  and 
  

   the 
  depredations, 
  if 
  any, 
  of 
  the 
  Eocky 
  Mountain 
  locust 
  in 
  Kansas 
  

   and 
  Colorado, 
  I 
  started 
  west 
  early 
  in 
  August 
  and 
  arrived 
  in 
  Topeka 
  on 
  

   the 
  11th 
  of 
  that 
  month. 
  I 
  conferred 
  with 
  the 
  Secretary 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  

   Board 
  of 
  Agriculture, 
  Hon. 
  J. 
  K. 
  Hudson, 
  and 
  he 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  

   he 
  had 
  received 
  no 
  information 
  of 
  the 
  ai)pearance 
  of 
  the 
  locusts 
  within 
  

   the 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  although 
  in 
  frequent 
  communication 
  with 
  cor- 
  

   respondents 
  from 
  nearly 
  every 
  section. 
  I 
  made 
  a 
  personal 
  examination 
  

   on 
  the 
  hills 
  and 
  plains 
  adjacent 
  to 
  the 
  city, 
  but 
  finding 
  only 
  the 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  grasshoppers 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  consider 
  it 
  important 
  to 
  preserve 
  any 
  speci- 
  

   mens. 
  I 
  stopped 
  over 
  one 
  day 
  at 
  Junction 
  City 
  and 
  made 
  a 
  search 
  for 
  

   locusts 
  of 
  the 
  destructive 
  kind 
  in 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Eiver 
  Yalley, 
  but 
  found 
  

   none. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  my 
  visit 
  the 
  wheat 
  harvest 
  had 
  been 
  gathered 
  in, 
  and 
  

   the 
  crop 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  section 
  was 
  considered 
  fully 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  average. 
  

   The 
  corn 
  crop 
  of 
  Eastern 
  Kansas, 
  judging 
  from 
  observations 
  and 
  in- 
  

   quiries 
  made, 
  I 
  consider 
  also 
  an 
  average 
  yield. 
  From 
  Topeka 
  west 
  as 
  

   far 
  as 
  Salina, 
  on 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Pacific 
  Railway, 
  and 
  west 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  ]N"ew- 
  

   ton, 
  on 
  the 
  Atchison, 
  Topeka 
  and 
  Santa 
  FeEailway, 
  from 
  information 
  

   which 
  I 
  deem 
  reliable, 
  I 
  am 
  convinced 
  that 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  drought, 
  which 
  

   in 
  this 
  locality 
  has 
  been 
  severe, 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  crop 
  will 
  be 
  

   realized. 
  In 
  the 
  western 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  throughout 
  what 
  is 
  

   known 
  as 
  the 
  dry 
  district, 
  great 
  destitution 
  prevails. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  

   inhabitants 
  in 
  about 
  twenty 
  counties 
  are 
  suffering 
  for 
  the 
  neces- 
  

   saries 
  of 
  life. 
  Unless 
  relieved 
  by 
  the 
  hand 
  of 
  charity 
  they 
  must 
  abandon 
  

   their 
  homes 
  or 
  sufier 
  untold 
  miseries 
  before 
  another 
  season. 
  The 
  in- 
  

   habitants 
  of 
  Eussell 
  and 
  Ellis 
  Counties 
  are 
  not 
  suffering 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  

   many 
  others, 
  but 
  fully 
  20 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  even 
  there 
  will 
  

   need 
  assistance. 
  In 
  Ness 
  County 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  is 
  such 
  

   that 
  fully 
  two-thirds 
  of 
  them 
  must 
  have 
  help. 
  Gove 
  County 
  has 
  lost 
  

   much 
  of 
  its 
  population, 
  and 
  of 
  those 
  remaining 
  one-half 
  must 
  be 
  fed 
  

   by 
  the 
  hand 
  of 
  charity. 
  Smith 
  and 
  Decatur 
  Counties 
  are 
  badly 
  off, 
  and 
  

   a 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  will 
  suffer 
  if 
  aid 
  is 
  not 
  extended 
  to 
  them 
  freely. 
  

   Graham 
  County 
  has 
  suffered 
  by 
  drought, 
  but 
  more 
  from 
  a 
  severe 
  hail- 
  

   storm, 
  which 
  destroyed 
  the 
  most 
  of 
  what 
  standing 
  grain 
  remained. 
  

   Eooks 
  County 
  harvested 
  considerable 
  wheat, 
  and 
  will 
  have 
  a 
  fair 
  crop 
  

   of 
  corn, 
  but 
  still 
  at 
  least 
  30 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  population 
  will 
  need 
  assist- 
  

   ance. 
  Of 
  the 
  counties 
  I 
  have 
  mentioned 
  I 
  x>assed 
  through 
  several, 
  and 
  

   in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  others 
  I 
  obtained 
  such 
  information 
  as 
  1 
  considered 
  re- 
  

   liable. 
  That 
  Central 
  and 
  Western 
  Kansas 
  are 
  undergoing 
  favorable 
  

   climatic 
  changes 
  there 
  can 
  be 
  no 
  doubt. 
  The 
  amount 
  of 
  rain-fall 
  during 
  

   a 
  given 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  is 
  now 
  far 
  greater 
  than 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago. 
  

  

  [55] 
  

  

  