The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1885-06-03
THE PACIFIC COAST sCOURGE.
Millions of Grasshoppers That Are
Reared by the Glorious Climate.

! Millions of Grasshoppers That Are
Reared blythe Glorious Climate.
| San Francisco Chronicle.
It would not be pitching the present
/ article in an alarmist key to say that
large portion of the foothill region of
/ California is not only threatened, but
! is being devastated by such swarms of
grasshOppers that they amount to moth
ing short of plague. The line of march
has been westward across the centre of
the state. All authorities and reports
appear to agree in fixing upon the desc
late wastes Of the Sierra slopes as the
birthplace of the insects. There among
the stones and scrub the eggs lie hidden
year after year, until some peculiar eli
mate or physiological condition bring
them to life. Last week an army of
grasshoppers invaded the agricultural
lands contiguous to Wick's, 8 or 10 miles
from Oroville. on the Chico rOaOd. They
annihilated 50 acres of grain in short
order GrasshOppers have appeared in
lone valley in such numbers as to amount
to a scourge. The grain crop, which
only promised about half n yield before,
is now likely to be utterly ruined.
In the neighborhood of Latrobe and
and White Rock the stencil arising from
the dead bodies of the hoppers that clog
up the running is more offensive than
the worst aggregation of slaughter hou-
ses. The country for miles around, usu-
ally at this time of the year covered with
long grass and bedecked with wild flow
ers, presents most desolate appearance
and looks as though it had been swept
by fire. The farmers in that ncighbor-
hood have lost their entire crop and feed
on their pastures. Those in the neigh
borhood of White Rock and Clarksville
have suffered equally as bad.
The grasshoppers are eating the foliage
from orange, peach and apple trees about
| Wyandotte, and are also destroying the
vegetables in the gardens. The Natoms
vineyard is said to be suffering severely
| A gentleman from Rocklin states that
California Raisin Company's vineyard,
near that place, has been entirely denu-
ded by the grasshoppers. Capt. West
cott the manager of the company's prop
/ erty, says that while the raisin product
of the vineyard was last year many thou
sands of dollars, the fruit of the entire
! 160 acres of bearing vines will not this
year be over $500 The destruction is
almost complete. A Sacramento paper
states that q 10. 600 acre stock ranch in
the southern part of III Dorado county
has been entirely denuded of everything
green, pine and willow trees stripped of
t1heir foliage, and in nearly every in
stance the trees vines and shrubs have
been entirely killed. The springs, wells,
reservoirs, bitches, water in troughs and
streams are filled with dead bodies of
nyrzads of the insects in putrid state,
the water has become poisoned, stock re-
fuse TO drink it and the stencil arising
! tilerefrom is nauseating in the extreme.
| In Grass valley the insects are eating
| the peaches down to the pits. In attack
! ing vineyard they commence with the
! nearest row, and after eating the vines
| tlON II W the OIli "OOb piOCCGu W Lit6
next, and so on. The California and
| Oregon freight train of thirty-fve cars
got stalled about mile from Roseville
Wednesday night in consequence of the
number of grasshoppors that haa collect
ed on the track. 1t was found neces-
sary to cut the train in two, take part to
Roseville and then go back after the re-
mainder. They are so thick all along
the line of the railroad that the officials
are planning kind of plow or scraper to
clear them from the rails. In one of
attacks on an orchard near Gait they not
only cleared off the leaves and green
fruit and dug out the pith from the ten
der twigs, but also delyed down below
the surface and ate up the young roots.
; Away up in the Sierra, on the mountain
meadow pastures, ,grasshoppers and Crick-
cts are cleaning off the herbage and are
! crowding up to the retreating snow line
in advance of the arrival of migratory
fiocks of sheep. Near Stockton far
mer was so oyerrun with them they not
only filed up his well, but also forced
their way into his house, which in des-
pair and disgust, he was finally obliged
TO shut uD and leave