BULLETIN NO. 1 SECOND EDITION. 13 



NEBRASKA. 



AX ACE to provide for the destruction of grasshoppers. 



Whereas the State of Nebraska has, for the past three years, been devastated by the 

 grasshoppers, thereby greatly injuring the agricultural and commercial interests of the 

 State ; and whereas these interests are liable to be seriously damaged in the future by 

 the recurrence of the pests aforesaid : therefore, 



Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Nebraska : 



Section* 1. That the supervisors of each road district in this State shall, at the time 

 ■when the grasshoppers shall have been hatched out, and before the same shall become 

 full fledged and fly, notify each able-bodied male resident of his district, between 

 the ages of sixteen and sixty years, to perform two days' labor, at such time and at such 

 place and in such manner as shall by said supervisors be deemed most efficient in the 

 destruction of the grasshoppers ; said notices shall be given in the same, manner as is 

 provided by law for the notice to work upon public highways. ' 



Sec. 2. Cities of the first and second class shall be governed by the provisions of 

 this act, and it shall be the duty of the mayor of such cities to appoint, not exceeding 

 two supervisors for each ward, to oversee the labor to be performed under the provis- 

 ions of this act. 



Sec. 3. In case ii shall appear that two days' work is not sufficient to destroy the 

 grasshoppers in any district or ward, and it shall further appear that more time can 

 be profitably employed in the destruction of the grasshoppers, the supervisors of each 

 ward or road district may require from the persons liable to the provisions of this act, 

 not exceeding ten days' labor in addition to the time hereinbefore mentioned, and it 

 shall be the duty of such supervisor to give to each person who shall have performed 

 labor under the provisions of this section a receipt for the number of days' labor per- 

 formed, and the supervisor shall upon oath report to the city or county authorities the 

 names and amount of labor performed by each person. 



Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of all persons subject to the provisions of this act to at- 

 tend when notified as herein provided, and labor under the direction of the supervisor 

 of their respective district or ward. Any person who, after being notified, shall refuse, 

 neglect, or fail to comply with the provisions of this act, shall forfeit and pay to the 

 county or city treasurers, as the case may be, the sum of ten dollars, together with 

 costs of suit, which sum shall be collected by suit before any justice of the peace 

 within the county, in an action to be brought in the name of the city or county. 



Sec. 5. The supervisor shall report, under oath, to the city or county authorities the 

 names of all persons who shall have refused or failed to comply with the provisions of 

 this act. 



Sec. 6. This being a case of emergency, this act shall take effect and be in force from 

 and after its passage. 



SUMMAEY OF REMEDIES. 



The publication of a second edition of this bulletin permits the sum- 

 ming up of the directions contained therein, with some additional ex- 

 perience recently gained in the field. 



The means of destroying the young locusts necessarily vary somewhat 

 with the nature of the soil and of the crops, and we give in this connec- 

 tion principles rather than details. For convenience these may be 

 classified into : 1, burning; 2, crushing; 3, trapping; 4, catching; 5, the 

 use of destructive agents. 



1. Burning. — In a prairie and wheat-growing country like much of that 

 which this locust devastates, burning is perhaps the best means of war- 

 fare against the young. These, for some time after tbey hatch, may be 

 driven, as already suggested, into windrows or heaps of straw scattered 

 around and through a field and burned. During cold, damp weather 

 they will, of their own accord, congregate under such shelter, and may 

 sometimes be exterminated by burning, where no driving is necessary. 

 As to burning the prairie in the spring, while there is much to be said 

 pro and con, it is, all things considered, beneficial in this connection. 

 Scarcely any eggs are laid in rank prairie, and the impression that 

 locusts are slaughtered by myriads in buruing extensive areas, is a false 

 one. It is beneficial principally around cultivated fields and roadsides, 



