Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-05-22

rov ara altar eating tie vines down 20
he "a rood. uroaesd 30 the nan. s1d
% o. The orchards zroond bed Bun
are ssid 70 have been s1tirely dsxas-
tsted. TIE fruff trees and Rrspsvines
srouha Folsom are being sfTipped. ana
il d no sxaegesatioo 10 say that All the
hOpyaris IN the northern portion Of the
state have beea eaten up and left en-
tirelv bare. They have reached tne
youna VINEYARDS on Deer creek and the
middle Sacrsment0, and have played
soch havoc with the tender vineyards
that this years crop . nnliity.
TRAINS sroPFED 81 IKE SsEcrs-
These are but sample instances Of the
Siestracsinn committed by the hungry
sFtbopsera. but tksy are sutiiclent 10
SHOW that Is needs no pessimist 10 con-
eIuds that California, in the regions re-
ferred 30, is s1fsrin2 from plague.
very good idea of their number may be
gained By reading of their work OF de-
struetion. bot. perhaps. even better
idea may be gathered from psrusine one
or tuo general facts. The folloSinR
item taken from a sacramento paper
will serve 70 show that they are pretty
thick in the western part of saeramento
county: srhe California and Ore
gen freight train of thirty-fve
cars got stalled about q mile from
Roseviile when coming to the city on
Wednesday night, IN consequence OF
the number Of Rrssshoppers that had
collected on the track. II was found
necessary TO cot the train in two,
take part of il TO Roseville, and
then 90 back after the remainder"
They are 30 thick all along the line OF
the railroad that the officials are plan
ming oat q kind of plov or scraper 10
clear them from the rails. In one OF
their attacks on an orchard near Gait
they not only cleared OF the leaves and
green fruit and dug ont the pilh from
the tender tuigs, bat also delved down
below the surface and ate M the young
roots. Away up in the Sierras. on the
mountain meadow pastures, Rrassh0p-
pers and criekets are cleaning on the
herbaRs and are crowding up to the re-
treating snow line in advance Of the
arrival of migratory hocks Of sheep.
Near Stockton farmer was 80 oyerrun
with them that they not only SLED up
his well, but also forced their way into
his house, which, in despair and dis
gust he was finally obliged to shut MP
and leave.
KxTKRMINATIoN OF THE PLAGUE
Nothing in the nature Of concerted
orchardists and vineyardists of the
State to stay the plague and il is quite
| possible that each of these GLASSES
tbiaks itself the only one seriously az.
| feeted. These insects have been swept
L s~.& a
on rollers coated with tar, fought WITH
fre, given over to the pigs and turkeys
driven into the water and exercised BY
Chinese priests, bat all without avail.
Nor will the danger be passed
until extreme measures are tax
en- fer their determination Whai
those extreme measures some
times amount TO may be judged
from what it has been found necessary
to do in Cyprus. On this island. which
Ia not larger than Colosa and YolC
counties, the loeast plague kept on
increasing year after year until tbt
whole island was poverty strick
en- When the English government
gained control of the island they found
that nothing was ever done to strike al
the bottom Of the pest-the egs-hatch
ing eroupds--and accordingly tax OF
Is 0kes-a weight variously estimated al
from one TO three pounds-of the egg.
vas levied on each mals inhabitant be
tween Is and 60 years of age. In 1e7s
236 tons were collected, bat in l8s.
l3301f tons OF eggs were destroyed on
the island Of Cyprus. Not only this,
blt some 1900 men were employed in
catching the locusts themselves 10
traps, and il il estimated that 1905
tons were destroyed. The locust Il
terribly prolific, and should the
insects now overrunning the foothill
counties be allowed TO breed, and
should next year DO as favorable to f.
cundity as this, California may look for
a local scsurRe indeed.