Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-05-30
Government Scientists Have
Suggested Them as Article
Of Food.
THE TUMBLE BUG SAUTE
All Sorts of vermin Formerly Con-
sidered as Exclusive Fowl Diet
Likely to Be Added to
Our Menu.
From the Los Angeles Times.


as he did so. He had eaten grasshoppers
on several occasions, and knew how good
they were
PITY it is" he said, "that people in this
country cannot be taught to appreciate
grasshoppers as table delicacy. Every
now and then local famines are caused by
plaques of the insects, and 1t would be
an immense advantage If the sufferers
from such affections could learn how to
utilize food, at least temporarily, the
doers OF the mischief.
lowing TO the fact that grasshoppers de-
posit their eggs in little burrows in the
ground, few inches below the surface,
the extending sediment of the west and
the incidental plowing up of the soil have
destroyed over wide areas the former
breeding grounds of the insect. Conse-
Quently IN these days we no longer hear
of the frightful plaques of 'hoppers which
| in earlier years fairly devastated extern
sive regions. In 1874, for example, the ar
! rival of innumerable swarms did damage
amounting to $50,OO0000 in the lower Mis-
sissippi valley, Missouri alone suffering
to the extent Of $l5,000,000
Occasional Plaques.
Nevertheless, more or less localized
| plaques do occur every year, and frequent
| appeals are made to the bureau of insects
! by the farmers for help. The problem is
beset by a good many difficulties, and 1t is
I u TACT tlldI HONH.iB tACSpl ire Will SlOp
the march of an army of grasshoppers.
They have even been known to cross
wide rivers. The best method of checking
their raVages Is to pow the ground In
which they have laid their eggs: but, Incl
dentally, as ] have suggested, it would be
an excellent thing If they were captured
In quantities and turned to account AS
food
"The bureau of insects has made very
thorough and quite elaborate experiments
with grasshuppers as food. and has
reached the conclusion that they afford a
palatable and nutritious diet They may
be prepared iR~gute a number of ways,
and all along The line from the chaflng
dish to the soup pot prove most satisfac-
tory. Furthermore, when roasted in guam
titles and pressed with the addition of
some salt, into hard cakes, they will keep
for an indefinite period.
THE proper way to prepare grasshop-
per soup (as ascertained by the govern
ment entomologists) is to boil the insects
over a brisk fire. adding salt, pepper, and
grated nutmeg, then to remove them from
the LIQUID and pound them in a mortar,
with bread fred brown, afterward return
ing them to the saucepan, and finally
straining the mixture before serving Ii as
a broth. | can state, as a result of per-
sonal trial, that the result equals crawfish
oisque, which II closely resembles In fla
. vor
Grasshopper Curry.
"Grasshopper curry is by no means TO be
sneezed 1t, and Croquettes of the same ma
J terial are exquisite. Truth to tell, the only
occasion on which have ever eaten hop
per croquettcs was at the table of the late
Z. V. Riley, at that time entomolog.st in
chief of the government, who was an en-
= thusiastic advocate of insects as food. He
. aid not mention what they were, and no.
r body would have guessed the secret II it
r had not been for an accidental hind leg
I which was found in one of the croquettes.
It was what might be termed the joke in
= structive-though l am not sure that ev-
{ erybody present relished it.
"Plain roast grasshoppers are very good
indeed, though on the whole l rather pre-
4 fer them fried in butter. There is de-
4 clded suggestion of the crawfish about
I them-if one happens to be familiar with
: the latter deicacy. l have heard that in
. South Africa the natives build fires in
advance Of flying swarms of these in
sects, thus causing them to fall to the
! ground by millions; whereupon they pound
. them between stones and mix the flour
:. thus obtained with water to compose a
G kind of soup.
. THE most interesting experiment with
o grasshoppers up TO date, however, SO far
= | as known has been made by Prof. Will
liam X. Kedzie of the Kansas agricultural
college, who obtained from a bushel OF
the insects by pressure about four quarts
Of liquids. which he subjected to analysis
q By distllation he derived from II pure
: and colorless solution of form!c acid
> which, by the way, Is a valuable CONNER
y cial product worth GO cents an ounce L
Il used to be obtained exclusively from rec
ants. Not only Is II useful for medicna
,e purposes, but also, in the laboratory fo
r rcGucing the salts Of gold, silver ant
platinum. II grasshoppers are so rich il
tIa1v nttyht hn fn 10 ~
,e count in this way.
D Not a New Food.
'"The use Of grasshoppers as food is NJ
,e new thing. No less an authority thai
E. Moses said to the Israelites of old: 'Thes
i! ye may eat, the locust, the beetle and tn
grasshopper.' Nevertheless the Jews o
is Morocco today regard the male grasshop
u per as unclean and eat only the female
quitting them up as a sort of preserves Il
r pots,D because these have on their bodie
certain markings resembling Hebrey
characters, which are supposed to max
!, them lawful food.
But 1t would be a great mistake I
suppose that grasshoppers are the onl
edible insects. Experiments made by tn
staff of the bureau Of insects have show
that wasp grubs fried in the comb are ex
cellent. When once this fact comes to b
realized our farmers will be less dispose
to regard wasp nests as things to be reck
IL lessly destroyed by burning. 1t will b
10 deemed more advantageous to drive ou
O. the insects and utilize the combs as
table delicacy. After all, 1t should b
Is realized that wasp grubs are fed upon tn
p. daintiest juices of fruits and flowers, an
v II is unreasonable to entertain a preJudic
, against them as an article of diet.
w. Not a few of the night-fying moths an
to butterflies, which gather the nectar
flowers, are very good to eat. OF cours
-, one must know how to prepare them fo
ai the table. In this country we have severs
Of species of moths which are nearly relate
n. to the silk moth. whose cocoons, after tn
J.. silk has been unwound from them, al
~ utilized by the economical Chinese as prt
n vender Then there is the cockchafer-
In large and luscious insect-which is prize
N as side dish by the people of Java.
a CaterpilIars, Too.
Members Of the staff OF the bureau
10 insects have taken the trouble to asce
n tain the edible qualities of the seventeen
In year locust, but without reaching a sati
factory conclusion In its regard, the Chi
~ trouble with II being that II has m
enough flesh on its bones, so to speak
"a Is not a true locust, like the grasshoppe
but belongs to the narvest-fy family. "
al have yet to try the large caterpillar
a. which more especially the palm weev
NV are so highly-prized as toothsome morse
= by natives of the West Indies. Agai
n there are the spiders, which people
lie | some parts of the world eat with enjo,
!, ment-though ] hardly think that "
, should be able to learn to relish them.
le I'm conclusion, II seems worth while
)" say that ants, when squeezed, furnish a
excellent substitute for lemon juice. An
ads, indeed, IL hardly distinguishable fro
A lemonade, the formic acid which these II
G. | sects contain in large quantities ber
,f closely allied to the citric acid which giv'
to the lemon its peculiar flavor"