53 
mendable spirit to fight their enemy, and they went to work 
with a will. Yet notwithstanding all this the grasshoppers 
would have done a vast amount of damage if the climatic con- 
ditions had not been very favorable to the farmer. At the time 
when grasshoppers are most voracious, and when they usually 
move about in large armies from field to field, a great number 
of light rains fell at frequent intervals, assisting the plants 
most wonderfully in their growth, while greatly dampening the 
ardor of such warmth-loving insects as the grasshoppers, which, 
as mentioned before, are also not fond of moisture. These 
rains helped the growth of the plants and retarded that of the 
grasshoppers. Later when these very seasonable rains ceased 
to fall, the plants of rye, oats, and wheat stood so close and 
were so rank that the ground was most thoroughly shaded, and 
being shaded retained the moisture for a long time. This con- 
dition of the grain-fields was not at all to the liking of the 
grasshoppers. They wandered about the edges of such fields, 
but did not enter, except in cases where the ground was very 
poor or the stand of grain irregular; here they caused some 
damage, chiefly to the oats. Asa general rule, however, the 
grain escaped unhurt, and only pastures, meadows, and some 
old timothy-fields suffered greatly. This state of affairs as- 
sisted farmers greatly in fighting the enemy, as they did not 
need to use the machines in the grain: fields themselves but only 
along the borders. 
Immense numbers of grasshoppers were killed before they 
caused much damage, and the state at large ought to be thank- 
ful to these farmers, since without their labors the locusts 
might have spread over the larger part of the state, instead of 
being confined to a small portion of it. How many grasshoppers 
are killed by a hopperdozer is difficult to say, as nine out of ten 
that jump into it jump out again, only to die soon after in the 
field. But if only five or six bushels of the still small grass- 
hoppers are scraped off the ‘‘dozer’” during a day’s labor, this 
would mean fifty or sixty bushels killed by a single machine. 
This is by no means an exaggerated estimate, but if only ten 
per cent of this amount were killed, it would well pay for the 
_ work. Kerosene oil has this additional advantage that it 
leaves a strong odor behind, which is very apt to spoil the 
appetite of the grasshoppers which escape destruction, and 
