Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-01-15
The geshy Moariain era>,hopser.


The Rocky Moantaia -r,s-hupper. calop-
feaEs sPr fns (Uhler). Naich roN and again
visits lie fertile agricultural Smte- Of the
Wet, and which lively AMI emphatic Irish
men in Nebraska call the =. curt { OF Moses, -
Is worth considering By t.o-e who propose
locating in the " est. 1ais year the farmers
Of Nebraska viii not save more than one
third to Ore half Of their corn-crop. and
other States adjacent II Nebraska have had
the small grain attacked as well as the corn
Ii this - curse Of Moss" were Of yearly oc-
curencc, it seems possible that the fertile
plains-which ten year, hence will form the
richest agricultural section in the United
States-would never have been wrested from
the wolf, the buffalo ard the Indians If
they had had they GrasrhopTeIs as constant
allies, the aborisineS would have seen
their respective feeding and hunting grounds
deserted by tue white man. except 50 far As
he needed 70 cross them To reach FL Dorados
in the mountains. Bot the Rocky Noun
tain graSshOpper i n0t native to the rich
aliuvial plains, and cannot find perna-
nent home upon them. Its natural home
and breeiing-places are tie dry, sterile and
stony table-.ands os the m1untains, where
rain does not fail, AMI where tie erss are
deposited in ereyiceS, but not covered with
earth. Hence-except % 4 limited extent -
the Rocky Mountain sra>shopper i not pro
duced from the eg- in NehrsisSa-anI other
prairie States somewhat similarly situate
When the Summer j. bot and dry and the
winds are favorable, Nebraska. with its
sister States may have -la~-uopper vista
ton. Flying high in tie air, their -luze-
Ike wings are Ike fimy cloud hetween
the observer and the sun. At iaS,. down
they come; aud on the di>triat where they
settle there Is titlin- three or four times
repeated the crops Of the country. The slc-
culent vegetable matter soe- first. and if
they could stop long enoegI, doubtless the
grass would not be slarsd. But in Nebras-
ka they can not. There j. notion that the
motions Of the cra->hopper- are a regular a
those of great army marching on an cH-
tended front. 1t Is suppose! that taey eat
their way in orderly fashion along the earth,
and that before Jhcm tacre Is abundance.
while there i deS1lit;1n in thc rear. This
i not -. The 'hopIcs> move -moFc IN
skirmishin- parties. Here is fed where
the blades and cars ot corn ar' wei nigh de-
stroyed, there Is one tlat has been passed 10y.
and y0nder there Is another, cu every ~iir oi
which Il border ha- been eaten. leaving t.ic
centre intact, and tie gri>~hopptr~ have
flown away to pastures new. n Nehra-kl
a lowering Of the temperature and a 1-in
storm, and the grasshoppcr~ mast dri 'st-
The climatic conditions OF the Sllt- rruirr
it certain that in the moist years thr'r ViI
be frequent heavy showers all through tie
agricultural months The grn>-h,rler,
vanish with the rain. AM hence there l. uot
8
the stories 10 that effect always have ;hcir
origin in panic, and are not founded ur i1ct
The vayr-rnt horde d, leave err behind
them, and portion OF these eggs viii prob
ably become live grassiopvcr- the ensuing
year. Bat the proportion l. a small one
A. stated above. the eggs reqai,e 90 l'c de
posted on the dry table-lind> ai tae sn'un-
tains in order to mature IN Icrt,c-i,a. In
Nebraska there are no sGch l,n.-, ami IN
the fall heavy rains are certain. Tie na-
tural conditions in Nebraska, therefor. IL
not help the Matching @! the grl>~hupYer
eggs. and only the httest survive. All the
facts coincide with these views. When Il
dry summer season tempts To the plains,
rain drives the 'hoppcr- away, and though,
the ensuing year, itw o! the sp-cie@ are
able To be seen. they ire not IN such numbers
a. u be accounted m.-,hieyOus- - Tar the
yi>itations have occurred once in seven or
eight years, not at exactly regular Intervals,
hut at such intervals a. an extraordinarily
dry season has occurred Their coming Is
calamity, but not one that cripples the
forehanled farmer Whcn the loss i dis
tributel over several years it is scarcely felt;
and 50 (knowing what the grslsshOpper rand
really means) the NebraskiIn farmers stick
To their land, in the certainty of better
times next year. They do this all the more
cheerfully in Nebraska. a. 1t l. the corn
crop which his suffered, the small grains
which been untouched. and there being an
abundance of grain AMI hay. On the ex-
IRENE frontier of the State there are home
steaiers who had just come, u it were, and
who We're dependent on their corn These
men Will have to bear AMI will be relieved in
order that they may tide over the winter
A portion may quit the State: those that
! do, will sell out their claims to farmers who
have more means. and who can therefore
make their agriculture more varied, and 50
more profitable, Those who would know
what the Rocky Mountain grasshopper Is
Ike will find q congener bearing many re
semblances to it in the red-legged grasshop-
pers of the Fast.