River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-08-12
HE GRASSHOPPER MUST GO
At Least Il Member Of the United
states chronological Commission
Thinks He Can BE Made TO Move
Westward Before the Advance of
Civilization.
Chicago Times.

Chicago Times.
Prof. CYRUS Thomas, of Carbondale Il
member of the United States ento-
mological commission, passed through
the city on yesterday, on his way home
from professional tour through Mime
| sofa, Dakota and Manitoba.
The professor was met at the Sher
man house by reporter of the Times,
to whom he said that the wheat acreage
III the section he visited was immense
largely in excess of anything he had
anticipated, and largely in excess of
what it was last year. The grain was
everywhere in splendid condition. In
some localities it wasn't as good as last
year, but on the average it was better.
Its uniform goodness was what chiefly
struck the professor He found rust
only in one district on the west side of
| the Red river, and in one other limited
| district, but it only touched the blade
and didn't threaten to injure the grain.
according to the periodic visitations of
bad years which have hitherto been
| observed, this ought to have been a bad
year, year of great dryness and an
abundance of chinch bugs and grass
! hOppers. But climate change SEEM
ed to be in progress There is plenty
Of moisture this year chinch- bugs have
only appeared on tritling scale, and
the grasshopper has not committed any
devastations. Prof. Thomas found
wheat as far west as the James river,
in Dakota, that was better than the
wheat on the Dalrymple, Cheney, and
Grandier farms Three or four years
ago he didn't suppose that crops ofany
sort could be re raised as far west as the
! James river.
Prof Thomas believed that he had
discovered on this trip the solution Of
the grasshopper problem. From 1873
to 1877 it was noticed that the grass
! hoppers hung close to q section of high
| land prairie in southwestern Minnesota,
| close to Dakota. known as the couteau
of the prairie He had satisfied himself
| that the reasons for this was that on
this couteau the grasshoppers found the
| Geographical and climatic conditions
suited to Il breeding-place. On account
of the moisture this year very few
grasshoppers had appeared here,
and Prof. Thomas believed that
they could be driven away from the
| locality entirely To do this the ground
must be cultivated and timber must be
grown. Using the fast-growing cotton
wood, the later could be accomplished
in short time Grass hoppers would
not breed in q wooded country, and the
| timber would have the further good
/ effect Of increasing the moisture, and
| extreme dryness is what the grasshop-
| per bankers after 1t is hoped to get
| the federal government to help about
/ timbering this section. If the grass
hOppers are driven out of this couteau
of the prairie they will find no other
breeding place nearer than the couteau
of the Missouri, high prairie plateau,
extending along the river bank for a
considerable distance This couteau is
now being explored by agents of the
chronological commission for the pur-
pose of locating exactly the breeding
ground of the grasshoppers. The
| professor is now satisfied that the To-
Gust plague can he pushed westward be-
fore the advance of civilization, and
thus it is possible to look forward to a
time when the grasShopper will cease to
be a burden. The particular fact that
convinced the professor of this was the
discovery ofwheat which grew we'll so
| far west AZ the James river. This
showed that that country could be set
| tied. and the settlement meant the end
of the grasshopper as well as the Indian.
| The commission would explore the
breeding grounds ofthe grasshoppers in
| Montana, and if ii was found to be Of
limited area he hoped the federal gov
eminent might be induced to cultivate
timber there, and perhaps emigrants
/ from Russia. who are used to fighting
grasshoppers, might he induced to set
| tie there.
! When Prof Thomas visited Minnesota
two years ago he saw no help for the
farmers of that state but to fight the