38 
number of gnats and the amount of damage done by them in the 
vicinity of the streams thus influenced. 
They appear in the vicinity of Mill Bayou every year in greater or 
less numbers, and I have twice observed them being carried from them 
to Somerset plantation by a heavy northwest wind, and as often ob- 
served them gradually disappear under winds blowing equally strong 
from the north, northeast, and south. 
Strong winds, blowing from a northwesterly quarter, bring gnats sud- 
denly and in great numbers to the neighborhood of Lake Saint Joseph, 
six to eight miles below Somerset. J udge Gunby states that they appear 
at Monroe with an east wind ; Mr. Craig observes them at Point Chicot 
with a west or southwest wind, and at the time they appeared in the 
city of Vicksburg they came with a westerly wind. 
Probably the worst afflicted parish in Louisiana is that of Franklin, 
which is situated between and at the junction of Bceuf River and Bayou 
Mason. Judge Gunby and others well acquainted with the country 
through which these two streams flow state that gnats appear with 
more regularity and in greater numbers in that vicinity than elsewhere. 
Mr. Craig states that they occur to some extent every year along these 
streams in Arkansas, being observed the most numerous the present 
season near Bayou Mason. This is in accordance with all reliable in- 
formation which I have been able to obtain, and, aside from the country 
about Mill Bayou, coincides with my own observations. 
In connection with this evidence we can also observe that these 
gnats are yearly being produced in numbers close up to the danger 
line, only an overflow being required to furnish the conditions suitable 
for carrying them far beyond. Soon after these investigations began I 
learned that the Buffalo Gnat did not occur below the mouth of the 
Red River. Wishing definite information on this point, I addressed a 
letter to Judge F. H. Farrer, of Bayou Sara, La., whose reply is given 
herewith, and I will only say that the facts embodied therein have since 
been corroborated by planters whom I have met from that region : 
Bayou Sara, La., March 9, 1886. 
Dear Sir : Yours of the 4th instant was received day before yesterday, Sunday. 
Court being in session, a great many farmers were in town, and I had plenty of old, 
experienced men to apply to for information in regard to the Bulfalo-gnat. 
Many had been familiar with the mischief it did farther north, but all agreed that, 
except to young turkeys and other poultry, it worked little or no harm in this region, 
either in low or high lands. A few indeed asserted that the one here was a different 
insect, known by the name of “ turkey gnat,” but the large majority maintained that 
it was. the same humpbacked individual so destructive in North and Northwest Lou- 
isiana. I presume that it never appears in such numbers here as there. 
My own experience, as far as it goes, agrees with that of the majority with whom I 
spoke on the subject, viz, that the genuine Buffalo-gnat is to he seen here every 
spring for a few weeks, hut is by no means the dangerous pest to cattle, horses, &c., 
that it is in Northern Louisiana. 
Respectfullv, yours, &c., 
F. M. Webster, Esq., Vicksburg, Miss. 
F. H. FARRAR. 
