Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-06-26
A PLAGUE OF GRASSHOPPERS.
How the People of Iowa have Suf-
fered from their DepredatiOns.
N.Y..

New York Times.
1t would be very difficult to convince the
people Of Iowa that the grasshOpper Is not
special creation of the Evil One. During
| several weeks past this yoraciOus insect has
been eating the wheat, oats, and corn by
wholesale. In some counties, scarcely a
field has escaped its ravages. The
patches in which the eggs have
been most numerously deposited
have been cleared Of every yestige
of vegetation, and the young grasshOppers,
as they pass through their several noult-
ings and increase in size, hop about in pur-
suit of food in far too lively 4 manner.
They come from the eggs without wings,
and continue 10 grow and devOur until
fully matUIred. After a few weeks of song
and reproduction, the body begins TO shriv-
el, The legs wither, the appetite ceases, and
death speedily follows. The largest yet
found are not more than two-thirds grown,
so that it will take some time before any of
them are ready to move elsewhere. A res
ident of Humboldt county, writing to a
Chicago paper, says: 'sThis section is
stocked with grasshOppers. They are not
big enough to fly, and thus far have
only committed depredatiOns in the places
where their eggs were laid. In ten or 4
dozen counties west of Humboldt, and up
the West Branch Of the DeS MOines river,
the country is full Of them. They have
already eaten the growing crops on the
ground and left the fields barren asa board"
In Sac County they have made such havoc
that a correspondent thinks the land in cul-
tiyation "will be nothing but a barren
waste" From present appearances he
firmly believes that there will not be fifty
bushels of wheat, oats and corn raised this
year.
In fact, the outlook Is so uhprOmisiDg
that many Of the settlers have decided 10
leave the State until they can recover sufii-
GENTLY TO enable them TO resume possession
of their hOmesteads, and begin the battle of
life over again. In order that they may not
forfeit their rights by absence, bill was re-
Gently passed by Congress giving them the
privilege to remain away for year. These
settlers have suffered a great deal in their ei-
forts to establish prosperous colonies. Last
winter, thousands of them were often
without the means of supporting life.
Through the lack Of experience their first
crops failed, and owing to the fact that the
counties in which they settled most largely
had previously had few inhabitants, they
were compelled to pull along as best they
could, without advice or encouragement
from any quarter. Gov. Carpenter, in
message to the Legislature on this subject,
said:
''During the last two years there has
been q constant stream Of immigration
pouring into the counties in the northwest
err portion of the State. So rapid has been
the influx that in counties where, three
years ago, there was scarcely ht,Inan habi-
tatiOn, there are to-day from two Thousand
to three thousand inhabitants. When it is
considered that a large proportion Of these
settlers went into this country with very
limited means, in order TO take advantage
Of the Homestead law, and that nHder the
most favorable circumstances they must
have undergone severe depriyati0ns and
har,lships, it is scarcely matter OF surprise
that, when there is added TO these facts an
unusual shOrtneSs of crops, there
should be great want and dis
treSs. There was a general belief,
when these people settled in these sparsely-
timbered counties, that the McGregor and
Sioux City Railway would be completed in
the year 1872, or at the fuItheSt in lSIj.
This has been delayed, from causes be-
yOnd the control of the settlers, rendering
it much more difficult and expensive to pro-
cure fuel than they had reason to expect.
This, combined with the other causes Of
destituii)n mentioned above, has made the
case OfLhese people one Of eXtremehardship.
Ina country Overflowing with agricultural
products, it would be a shame to allow
any of our citizens, who, from local or tem-
porary causes, have been brought to want,
to suffer for the neceSsaries of life."
1t was the belief that the country was,
as the Governor said, .'OFerfiOWing with
agricultural products" that enabled most of
them to pass through period Of cold and
hunger without dying of despair. They
looked forward hopefully to the spring,
when they would have an opportunity to
cultivate the land, and 10 a harTest which
would prove abundant enough to cOmpen-
safe for all their trials and harIlships. And
now, to find that their crops are being de-
youred by grasShOppe-s, while they look on
pOwerleSS to prevent it, it is a very hard
trial. 4 correspondent who has witnessed
the work of the grasshOPpers in several
counties is bitter in his denunciatiOn Of
those landowners who try to prevent the
true state of the facts from being made pub
lie, lest it may have the effect of prevent
ing immigration. Recently, he says, he
heard the largest landowner in Sac county
offer to sell four hundred acres Of wheat for
what the seed had cost him. Two hours
subsequently an immigrant called upon the
same man to buy some land. While walk
ing about the farm, the immigrant noticed
a strip of bare earth across a wheat field,
and having inquired about it, was cOOny
informed that it had been kept in such
condition SO that the herders could better
protect the wheat from the cattle. "These,"
adds the correspondent, ''are the men who
induce newspaper editors to say, no grass
hOppers in this country" Under existing
circumstances emigration toward the grass
hopper country is not likely to be very