Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-07-09
The Grasshopper Scourge.

An intelligent gentleman in Nebraska
vouched for as strictly reliable by the editor
of the Chicago Tribune. writes concerning
the village of Brownsville, Nehama county
Zone of the four counties most rayaged by
the insects, last year,, as follows "The
people here prided themselves on their beau
tifully laid-out and well-kept grounds, and
ft : weeks ago the yards were as green as
an emerald and the trees covered with lux
urant foliage. Flowers bloomed everywhere,
and the houses nestled among the green
trees. All is now barren waste. Thou
sands on thousands of grasshoppers crawled
about the streets, covered the fences and
lined the sidewalks. Some of them were so
small and young they could not get out of
the way, and were crushed to death beneath
the feet of the passers-by, and under the
wheels of wagons and carriages. Others
were large and strong, and flew away by
hundreds, only to be replaced by new hun
dreds apparently descending from the sky
The stencil from dead grasshoppers at one
time became so great that the people feared
disease, and cleaned the town of their car
cases. They crawled everywhere, lighted on
my clothes, and even in my face. Count
less millions have been passing overhead, all
day, high in the air. To-day | rode ont to
Gov. Furna's place, about two miles from
the city. He had beautiful farm. well
stocked, hedged, and the best nursery in the
country, of one hundred and sixty acres, in
fruit, and not tree escaped. Twenty acres
of peach-orchard, on which, few days ago.
hung five thousand bushels of peaches, Is
complete y ruined. Not a peach remains,
and the trees are lealess as in midwinter.
Many of them are badly eaten, and will die.
The apple are still worse, the soft
wood Of this years growth being eaten, and
the bark stripped from the limbs. They look
as white as picked bones, and many of them
are already dying. The nursery plants are
eaten down to the ground The Governors
loss is over $50 900, and it will take him
five or ten years to replace his fine orchards
Millions Of graSshoppers are still at work on
the trees, eating the bark and soft wood. /
They rose in swarms around Us at every step |
of the horses, and We could distinctly hear |
the whirring noise of their wings. | wit |
messed a grasshopper-rise, as it Is called. |
Thousands commenced going up into the air
and crcling about. could liken it to |
nothing but bees swarming. They filed the /
air in countless millions, and then struck off |
northwest. In the corn they were still at
work. Not a spear was to be seen above the |
earth but on going TO the hills founc I
them sticking in the ground eating the roots.
Some had burrowed over an inch deep in
search Of the green plants. rode over four
miles, and saw not living green thing but
a little milk-weed and some samac bushes,
and here and there patch of prairie-grass.
All the tame grass seemed to be taken. One
farmer was at work replanting, but most Of
them were at home waiting results. and
those spoke to seemed greatly diScour-
aged
\ correspondent Of the Montpelier Watch
man, writing from York, York county, in
Southeastern Nebraska, June 23l. says
"Whcn wrote you last, the extent and
amount Of the locusts passing over and oc-
casionally lighting down, had not been As
certained. Prof. Aushey. of the State mi
verSity of Nebraska. at Lincoln. has been
making telescope observations, and has
come at conclusions which are startling
The movement of the locusts was first no.
ticed Saturday, June 18th. and has contin-
ued most Of the time since. Prof. Aughey
found that the distance from the lower TO
the upper strata was nearly mile, and the
extent east and west was about two hun
dred miles. This vast company kept on
their way for several days When the wind
changes they Immediately alight. Ye>ter-
day was riding out, and was aroused from
a reyerie into which had fallen in gazing
ont upon the beautiful green prairies, by
locust striking me in the face, which caused
4 singing pain. raised my eyes and the
air was full Of locusts descending | soon
passed 4 large field of rye which was we'll
nigh ready to harvest, and it was complet-
" COVERED and probably i now destroyed,
unless they have risen and gone after those
gone before. You can well Judge what the
state of mind Is here If the locusts re
main. they will destroy all the crops in a
few days. To-day the report Is, that the
corn is in a process of destruction. All the
small grains are more or less injured. \
general gloom hangs over the whole land
On the whole there appears to be no great
reason why Eastern farmers should envy the
Western ones, for the past two wears.