Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-23
THE GRASSHOPPER PLAGUE.
Is IL simply n StOck-Jobbing Trick:-
A Strange Story from Minnesota.

n 0lEHAArSC 6lONy AANFAa- 1-AA-.@~'o.e-s
St Panl Pres.
The impression seems TO have gone
abroad that the whole State of Mime
sofa has been ravaged by lOcusts, and
it was doubtless in consequence of this
impression that the stocks of the North
western and Milwaukee and st. Paul
roads, already seriously depressed in
consequence Of the raid of the Changers
on the railroads, received severe shock
the other day in Wall street, when the
telegram of Governor Davis, asking the
War Department for the Communication
of our quota of arms to food rations
was communicated to the Associated
Press. Wall street seems to have at
once jumped to the absurd conclusion
that, because the grasshoppers had
been doing a great deal OF damage IN
Minnesota, the greater part of the
wheat crop had been swept away. One
effect of this absurd Misrepresentation
of the Governors dispatch was the
abrupt termination OF negotiations
which had Just been informally con-
summated with New York capitalists
for placing a large amount of
the bonds Of this city. Such result
could only have arisen from the as
sumption that large proportion of the
agricultural areas of the State was in
volved in the calamity. 1t is proper to
correct an impression so ridiculously
wide of the truth. As a matter of fact
the ravages of grasshoppers have been
thus far confined to a group of newly
settled counties in Southwestern Min
nesota, about SO miles square, or 5000
square miles in all. This is much less
than one-ninth of the area of Mime
sofa. Moreover. most of these coun-
ties are very sparsely peopled, having
only been opened to productive settle
ment within the past two or three
years, with the extension of the Sioux
City and St Paul and Wlnona and st.
Peter railroads. They include one tier
of counties on their eastern flank, in
which settlement is of several years
date, and consequently cultivation is
considerably more advanced.
There has been a great increase Of
tillage and a corresponding increase of
the wheat breadth in nearly all this
group of counties, except IN Cotton
wood, Jackson, Mobiles. Watonwan and
Rock, where their progress was checked
by the grasshopper raids of last sum-
mer. 1t is safe 70 estimate the titled
area in the rayaged district at 275,OOO
acres, and of the area in wheat in that
district at 200,00h acres. OF this area
probably not less than 10000 acres
have been destroyed This represents
not less than $500, 900 bushels of wheat
devoured in the germ or milk by grass
hoppers, or about one-twelftb of the
wheat crop of the State. Add TO this
| 10000 acres Of oats at thirty three
bushels per acre, or ], 320, 600 bushels
in all, or one-twelfth of the Oat crop of
the Gtato, %, 600 acres Of corn at thirty
two bushels per acre, or 10000 bush
els, or One-twelfth of the corn crop of
the. State, and perhaps 10000 acres
more in rye, buckwheat, barley, pota-
toes and other crops, and the full ex-
tent of the grasshopper havoc can be
readily estimated.
If we may estimate the value of the
wheat standing on the ground in those
| distant frontier counties at so cents
per bushel, for corn andOats at 40 cents,
we shall have the total money loss OF
! the PRINCIPAL crops: