Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1857-07-10
From the New York Tribnne.
The Grasshopper Pest of Minnesota

From the New York Tribnne.
The Grasshopper Pest of Minnesota.
We have heretofore noticed this new pest
OF the farmers in Minnesota, and the fact
that they ure marching south and east, and
may sweep over Wisconsin in a year or two
more. We now present an interesting let
ter, descriptive of the insect and it's depre.
dttions, from a re@idant Of the territory
To The Editor Of The ", Y. Tribune
Sir propose to give you some account
OF the grasshOppcrs in Minnesota. In the
first place, then, Il slight description of the
animal is necessary as they differ in their
habits materially from the insects bearing
the same name in the Eastern states.
When full grown they are about one and .
hall inches long, OF brownsh-green color,
with four wings which enable them to fy
as easy as a hawk. They deposit their eggs
in plOughed ground in the autumn, about
three-fuurths of an inch below the surface,
in bundles Of six or ten in number. where
they remain through the winter perfectly
safe, until the warm sun and genial
showers of spring, when they seem to roll
out Of the ground like the rising OF yeast
With their four legs they grasp the nearest
Object and commence kicking until they are
free from the shell that has protected them
through the months Of winter. When first
one fourth of an inch long but soon turn
to a dark brown. They are not great eaters
at frt. but seem to get their subsistence
from the moist earth. In about two weeks
they double their size, and their wings be-
gin to deveope, although they do not use
them until they are nearly full grown
When they are about one half an inch long
they commence feeding on the young corn,
wheat or other grains, and if they are very
numerous they refuse nothing green that
comes in their way, but show preference
to those plants which are cultivated. They
commence their onward march early and do
not destroy every thing as they pass along,
provided they see fresh and green feed be-
yond For instance, they passed over my
field of wheat; a distance of thirty rods,
and have not eated over two-thrds Of it,
Whether this is in c nsideration of the
younger brood which is coming or whe-
ther they prefer the barley which they see in
advance, / cannot tell, but presume it is the
latter cause for the advance guard. which
has already reached the barley and young
clover, show no consideration, asithey now
eat clean as they 60, and have in three days
taken two-thirds of the field. Beans, tur
nirs, onions, cabbage and most of the gar
den vegetables, with the exception of peas.
thus tar seem particularly suited to their
tast Like the universal Yankee nation,
they seem 10 De LOT ever on the move, except
thg one Is CraVehng west the other east
. tncae uIuer from tne r, common erusaholPel
~ - us POI ~ lucy oooiii w iiAo VIC.
9 % wei 90 any a' 'no uiiuouai "o'
ap;T 0 "pu'u ueuiois'r".o' oho Vi my
ne'9ipoie' WY rs oy tne way Iious
.t' ,,,,,1 'ayo '"o h'ni , s"Vy has VII aii
n'n, a.. " 1I uu'.Gn hI .nl' epi .ne
s,'.;r, l,, w. , 70 a, wy, "ao r anu We.
if"S ~ at anu rn lio9,ei a',u 'r4ue"U
- ii I,' a., .'e '"'o' 'NI'ion
,r,raiIot trnIi u"io saohoiP.a na'o
,he RncLr ,,a,n,,ia ~ ,t D.
m. N,rrH ,hnro ,har d,s,r.,r.d ,hn o,ooa
Tor two va,r, in sucSsssi"n So ,tfb
were they in their work that the ,nba bi,apts
of Pembina and vicinity were obliged 10 90
down to Prairie du -Cnien for seeds. They
have the mast summer made graz, bav1c
along the Inner M,ssissinn; r,rer as Cav
south as st. Antbony. Here account, diffrr
Some say tney came To Red River w;tbin
two wears others saw thev have been seven
years in making their iournev Ahout
thirtv-six years ago, as am informed bv n
Frenchman who lived at Red River at that
time, they DESTROYED the cron so that the
settlers in that infant colonv did not save
their seed, but were OBLIGED tn livs nv
hunting and fishing.
You can see how difficult 1t is to come at
correct history of them and this ia one
object of nv writing this that those who,mav
be visited by them in future. furtbe, snutb
and east. if thev continue their wander,ngs
may know something of their antecedeni.
They came here last August in sucb
numbers that the air had the annearancs Of
a snow.storm. So thick were thew in some
places that the sun was darkened 1hev
came after most of the wheat cron was
harvested the corn. most of i, was too hard
for them, although they deyoured ali the
| leaves. Leaving the bare stalk and ears vat
they were in season to strip the leaves off