The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-07-08
THE NIMBLE GRAssHOPPER.
Some Curious and Instructive Experiments
with the Festive Insect.

some curious and Instructive Experiments
with the Festive Insect.
tFalls City (Neb.) Cor. Chicago Tribune.l
I saw the 'hoppers at work in several
fields, and millions still continue to pass
overhead, steering due northwest. Oc-
casionally column drops, and eats up
the country for miles. Night before last,
the vicinity of Peru, in Nemaha county,
which so far had escaped, was visited,
and in an hour the valley cleaned for
miles. 1t would be impossible for you
to conceive of the anxiety of farmers who
still have their crops left. Many of them
spend most of their time in watching the
sky, and the least change of wind causes
the utmost CONSERVATION, as the 'hoppers
drop when struck by an easterly current.
I saw column hit by head wind, and
it dropped near Falls City. This flock
of 'hoppers was about mile wide and
over three miles long. They we're bright,
active-looking fellows, and did not seem
to be suffering from parasites or tape
worms. Fortunately, they fell on per-
fecty- y-barren fields, which their prede-
cessors had stripped of everything, and
evidently did not like the situation; for,
after resting about an hour, the wind
changed, and they rose like pigeons and
sailed away to the northwest.
Experiments with 'hoppers are numer-
ors, and the people in the devastated re-
gion are determined to find out come
thing about them. One gentleman, hav-
ing found two grubs in one hopper,
examined them carefully with powerful
glass, and pronounced them in perfect
health. He has lot of grubs buried in
tin box, and dampens the earth with
rain water occasionally. He thinks they
will change from q grub to something
else In about three weeks. Another per-
son buried lot of 'hoppers alive, and he
is waiting to see when the grubs will
leave their bodies, and what becomes of
them afterwards. Undoubtedly the earth
Is the natural place for the grub; for,
on being released from the body of a
hopper, he Immediately buries himself
in the ground. The following expert
ments may be of interest:
A hopper with both wings pulled off
did not seem to mind it.
A hopper with a leg off continued live
ly and to eat voraciously.
A hopper shut up lived fifteen days
without food, but had air.
A hopper with his head off lived five
minutes.
A hopper Just alghted from long
flight ate at one meal the weight of him
self in cabbage leaves.
A lot of 'hoppers touched with coal oil
were every one paralyzed; and, although
they continued to live, in some instances
for three days, could not eat, and all
died.
A hopper tied to stick and sunk in a
tumbler filled with water was left there
for half an hour, but came up all right,
and when united hoped off, apparently
not much the worse for his long submer-
sion.
A hopper sheds his coat three times
before reaching his full growth. 1t only
takes him about three minutes to get out
of his old shell. He cracks open over
the head down the back and kicks off his
shell. When first out, his head and body
are quite soft; but in about an hour his
head hardens, and his body becomes
winter with each shedding. When lib
Grated from his old shell he becomes
quite stupid for an hour, and will often
be SO torpid that he can be picked up
and handled without his seeming to no.
tice it. 1t is not believed he gets para
sites or flies until he sheds the third
time. A gentleman has a jar of care
fully-fed 'hoppers, and many of them are
now in their third shedding.
WAR ON THE 'HoPPERS IN MINNESOTA.
Gottawa (Mnn) Cor. Chicago Inter-Ocean.l
The grasshopper war, which was in
augurated in this part of LeSueur coun-
ty, has become general all over the
chopper" district, which includes the
counties of Brown, Blue Earth, Nicollet,
LeSueur, Sibley, and parts of Mcleod.
Mr.. 7. M. Raney, a farmer of this place,
induced his town and LeSueur to offe1
bounties for the destruction of the pests
several weeks ago. When it became ap
parent that they could be destroyed and
the crops could be saved, other towns
followed our example. The average
price per bushel paid for the 'hoppers
was about S1.50. The present price is
81. Three towns of LeSueur county
have destroyed 2,400 bushels. Blue
Earth county has bought over 0,00(
bushels. st. Peter, in Nicollet county,
has destroyed about 300 bushels. The
other counties are at work, but we can
not give you correct estimate of the
number destroyed.