Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-05-22
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Is. 3. Chrouieis-l
ID uould nGs be pisohing the present
ariicle In an elsrzisf ksy 20 say that
large p0Etion Of the foothih region o.
California 10 not only threaaeBed- but II
being dessstsssd by such swzrnss OF 1
lrasshoppers that they amount 20 moth /
Ino short Of q plague. The hest proof |
Of this assertion wslI be found IN q con /
denaatian Of the accounts found in tine 1
local columns Of the various papers Of /
Placer, Yuba- Nevada. AEsad0r. Napa. |
Sonoma, San JOAQUIN, Butte. Sacra-
uenfo. III Dorado. 1eh2ma and Aerced |
counties. The names of these counties |
will also broadly indicate the arss OF |
yisikafion-from Tehama north sard 70 /
San Joaquin On the south. and from |
Placer on the east % Butte on the west, |
marking the boundary of the locality /
ravaQed. Another way of expressing |
the fact would be 10 say that the line of !
march has been westward across the
center Of the State. All authorities and |
reports appear to agree in fixing upon |
the desolats wastes Of the Sierra slopes |
a. the birthplace Of the inseets- There |
among the stones and scrub she eggs he
hidden every year. until some peculiar
climatic or physioloaieaI condition
ethnoIoQists are unable to agree upon
this poiDt-bEinR them TO life. Moth
ing very definite has been re-
eeiyed concerning their appearance
or habits exeeps those Of destruction;
indeed, the descriptions differ largely
in various localities. In Colusa county
the most destructive srs Of q light bun
when young. RrovinR DARK brown IN
few weeks, and reaching two inekes In
length, with disproportionately long
legs and having great lespiBg power.
Those in FL Dorado county are small.
brown in color. have white stripes
around their body, and their clicking
noise 10 not unlike the ound heard IN
clock shop, where ct the same time
hundreds of timepiecss are ticking. 4
sample of the pests, obtained on the
other side Of the American river, nesr
Sacramento, were from one-fourth 90
three-fourths of an inch in length and
wingiess. The exhibitor stated that
some larger ones. and having wings, are
90 be seen In the myriads that infesf
the hop fields. All agree, however, that
their general mode OF progression ID to
crawl or hop, few using their wings,
even when possessed OF them. Ihe
probabilities are that the small and big
Insects are not different kinds. bnt the
young and old grown OF the same
| species, the hatching period being sen
orally about the end Of April or the be-
ginning Of hay; and the probabiilfIes
are also that the @gresshoppers" ere not
grasshoppers at all, but iocasts OF the
genus captenas fe'Has~ S-Hog1i'l, the length
and strength Of the jumping legs and
the color OF the insects favoiing this
superstition.
DEVASTATED GRAIN YIELDS.
The rural papers are treating the pest
| In 0 STRANGELY humorous way but at
the same time they are furnishing sach
very serious information as proves it TO
be no laughing matter. The reader
can peruse some Of the statements
made and judge for himself. @. II.
Gray, Superintendent Of the Rancho
Chico orchards and vineyards. says thai
| the damage committed on the ranch IN
one day BY the pests will amount to
500.
George 8. Waterman. who lives be-
tween Harrington and TrlRo, San
JoaQuiR county, has furnished dis
coufagine accounts from his section of
the country. WHAT the droaeht has
spared the Rrasshorpers are taking. Z.
Drais, who lives An miles east of Farm
| ineton, had 40 acres of wheat, but the
erasshoppers came down q little creek
leading into the field and took every
leaf and stalk until not a green thing
on their track was left" The same
| informant also says that all vi :
ter grown grain IN his section
OF the country, whether wheat or bar
ley, has been entirely cut on by the 10
Gusts. The Marysville Democrat states
that q farmer in that neiRhiDorhood
named Amos Lane has lost about TWEEN
sty-five acres of wheat by them, eaten on
close to the ground, and that others are
threatened. Last week an army OF
grassboppers invaded the agricultural
| lands contiguous 90 Wick'e, eight or ten
miles from Oroyiiltt, on the Chico road.
They raided John Cullom's place and
short order. Grasshoppsrs have appear
ed in lone valley ID sach numbers as
| 20 amount to q Bcoarge. The grain
crop. which only promised about
half yield before. IL nov likely
| to be utterly ruined. The Sacramen-
20 Bee gives the following from Q
correspondent at Folsom: I'll .
erasshoppers are numerous and are de-
stroying everything within reach. The
NAtoma Company has force of about
| fifty men continually fighting them. and
800 pounds were captured yesterday,
which they offer fer sale at 5 cents a
sack, being the coat OF the sack. AZ
Zienuaidf's plaea they are brushing
them into the ditch, and they are 50
| thick that you eaEin0s see the water. j.
Z. blanchard says that they visited bis
plsce and did over 81 900 damage 10 one
| DAY. Mr.. Cashuer, of Sheridan. Placer
| county, has said thgt in bic part OF the
| country the grasshoppers numbered i've
| 70 every stalk Of wheat. The Chico
| ChroHtcie and ERfeyprtse say they are
destroying everything In some parts OF
Butte county.
vKRTTAB1.z PLAGUE.
J. II. Miller, Of Iatrobe, tells the
| editor Of q Haeramerto paper that he
| had q hne field Of go acres Of barley,
and in less than "a hours after the hop
pers reached 1t there was net tho slight
est sestiEe az the crop iuft. even 70 the
roots, and the sFronnd the next day
looked as II Il had inst been piowed aud
harrowed; He says 10 the nsdahbor-
stench aTisihR from the dead bodies Of
l tne 0ut*cfH tnnt oeo& w hA3 tAous1k
streams u more offensive that the worst
aggregation of alanehsef hoases. The
country for miles afonnd, usually at
tina tiIne Of the year scvcftd with long
grass and bedecked with wild aowers,
| prssaaaa q moal deselake appearances,
ard looks as thpaQh Il had bean sweEt
by fPe. The large fafmers il that
neiebb orhood hhss, hks Mr.. Miller. Lost
i thelr entire croFs and the feed on their
psssnrea Thosn 10 the nsiRhborhood
Of white koek and Cl.rksviae have
suffered equally es bad. An Informant
from the Oosuinnes says the Egraashop.
pers are destrsgine all the cnsl,heids IN
that vicinity. while the Msryssille pa
pers say thAt the wheat fields around
Smartsviiie Am being devastated BY
myriAds Of gsA<shoppers.
pxSuDzp oscHAEnsl
Tha ao.puiintfon FNfefz exeln sivaIx IN