American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-09-26
The GrasshOppers.

j. w. Taylor, Esq, nlted States Con-
sui at Winnepeg, has contributed a pa
per upon the grasshopper to the Wdnt-
tobdn which is full of interesting infor-
nation as to the ravages of this pest and
the methods of preventing and destroy
ing it. As this lively insect is now at
work throughout nearly the entire West,
and is slowly but very surely working
its way East. a brief statement of Mr..
Taylor's paper may suggest some timely
hints to the sufferers by its depredations.
The grasshopper is an ancient enemy of
the crops and vegetation. Early men
ton is made of him in the records of the
Jesuit missions of California. The year
1722 was a very disastrous one. 1t next
appeared in 1746, and afterward in 1853
and 1865, continuing three years. The
periods of great destruction in this cen
fury in California have been 1928, 1888,
1916 and 1853. In 1856 it did much in
jury in Texas and Kansas. Since the
settlement of Minnesota there have been
five grasshopper years 1856, 1857, 1865,
1878 and 1874. In the Red River settle
ment it first appeared in 1879, then in
1919, and not again until 1857. After
that it appeared in 1864, 1867, 1869, 1872
and now in 1874, with a probability that
the ova will threaten the crops of 1873.
The remedies which Mr.. Taylor emu
merates are of three kinds: 1. Remedies
man against the full grown grasshoppers.
3. Devices for destroying the eggs. The
remedies which nature has provided are
the bright sunlight, which gives them an
instinct to "mOvc on;" insects, such as
the Tachina, which deposits its destruc-
tive Larvae on the grasshopper, the ich-
neumOn and shOrt-winged ichneumon; ;
birds, such as the startling, blackbird,
lark, jackdaw and domestic fowls; and
81 g <xf l. I,
spots infested by them. The human
agencies against the full-grown insects,
which have thus far been used with eff
feet, are as follows: 1. Smudges, pro-
ducing dense, sitting smoke, which
should be kindled an hour before sunrise
and kept fumigating so long as the in
sects are on the wing. 2. Roping them
off the grain to the ground and continu-
ing the operation until they fly. 3. Net
ting them in huge bags made of sheets
and then plunging them in hot water.
4. Turning in cattle, hogs and poultry to
feed upon them. The most important
question is how to destroy the Larvae or
the justhatched insect next spring. One
plan suggested is deep blowing \
Texas planter wrote, in 1867, to the De-
partment of Agriculture as follows:
as the has laid its
of earth which will crush them and thus destro
the Sa 81 IN Of
where myriads of eggs were deposited, and not a
grasshopper came from under the layer of soil
that covered the eggs.
The Asiatic traveller, Rocher, also
says:
Deep blowing. with view to crush the eggs
under the weig of the soil turned upon them.
undoubtedly recommendabe, while pigs and
poultry allowed to roam over plowed fields
would greatly Assist in the determination of these
lOcusts in embryo.
Prairie fires, set as much as possible in
circles, SO that the young insect cannot
escape through the ring of fire. The
Mennonites collect the eggs in the fall
and destroy them, and in the spring roll
the ground with heavy rollers. In addi-
ton to this they employ the smudge very
frequently. On the island of Lemnos
the people are required by law to furnish
a certain measure of the eggs annually to
the authorities. In China, also, the peo-
pie are obliged to assemble in the spring
and effect the destruction of the Larvae
In France, Italy, Hungary and Spain
rewards are paid for the eggs. After
summing up all the remedies Consul
Taylor recommends the people of Mani
| toba to pillow not only all the fields down
deep this fall, but all the high-roads and
lanes, as these bare surfaces are the chief
breeding grounds. Then, if necessary,
harrow the grounds and roll the surface
He also suggests the planting of the field
pea, which is unpalatable to the grass
hopper, on the margin of every grain field,
as it may divert the insect before it has
become winged from passing the barrier;
and systematic prairie burning in circles,
and the frequent use of the smudge
Whatever is to be done for the protection
of next years crops must be principally
done this fall, and for this reason Mr.
TaylOr's suggestions are both timely and
valuable.-ChtcagO Tribune.