The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-08-18
PREDICTS PLAGUE
OF GRASSHOPPERS
NIcoLLET COUNTY, MIMI, OLD
SETTLERS EXPECT MINNIE
sofa TO BE RAvAGED IN 1s11-
TELLS OF PLAQUES IN FORM
Err YEARS.

special to the Minneapolis Journa.
from ST. Peter, MINI. saws:
Old settlers of NicoIIet county pre.
dict as plague Of grasshoppars fol
! southern Minnesota in 1911. Flight,
of locusts that have been seen durine
the last few days have revived the
ola fear of the pests, and they declare
mat year hence, there will be an in.
Vaslon which will rival the visitation
of 1874-5.
That there are grounds for their an
prAhensions is admitted. and the his
tory of "grasshopper times" is such
mat many farmers are talking OF
plans to destroy the pests. The first
invasion of locusts OF which there
is any authentic record occurred in
1857, large areas in NicolIet and lie
Sueur counties suffering. Again in
1866 great damage to crops was done
oy the Insects, but 1t was in 1875 and
1876 that they made themselves a
terror to all parts of Minnesota.
Loousts by Millions.
In the fall of 1874 vast quantities of
eggs were deposited in the ground.
and the following spring the locusts
appeared by the millions. So num-
erous were they, that they devoured
every green thing, and, when they mi
grated, they flew in immense clouds
Growing crops were cut to the earth
and consumed, the army of locusts
leaving in their wake a country that
was wholly devastated and blackened
as though by fire, and for two years
the farmers harvested no crops.
TO rid the country of the plague
bounty was offered by many counties,
and even by the boards of supervisors
In individual townships In Nicoller
county the board of county commits
sioners adopted resolution Offering d.
graduated bounty, the prices ranging
from Sc bushel for locusts taken in
the larvae stage to 81 a busheI for
those of mature growth. With these
prices as an incentive, hundreds of
persons dropped their ordinary voca-
lions and took up the more profitable
employment of locust catching, but
their efforts produced no appreciate
effect upon the swarms of insects.
1t was the custom to deliver the dead
locusts to persons Designated by the
board of county commissioners, the
locusts being burned in long trenches
dug for the purpose, and orders on the
county treasurer being issued in pay
ment for them.
County Pays $4,000.
The records show that in this way
Nicollet county paid out $4,000. and
ii is estimated that nearly as much
more was appropriated from the town
ship treasures. Blue Earth an adj
Joining county, did not abandon the
practice as soon as Nicollet, and prac-
tically exhausted it's credit, bonds
being issued to take up the locust or.
ders and forming part OF its floating
for a period of nearly
twenty years.
So serious had the situation become
IN 1875 that the state was compelled
to provide the destitute farmers with
seed grain, and in the spring of that
year Governor Pillsbury designated a
certain Sunday as a day Of prayer. 1t
was so observed in every church in |
and within few days al,
frost caught the squirting |
arvae and wholly destroyed them,
This year locusts have done much |
damage, but the crop in this section is |
so much better than the average that |
the farmers have paid little attention |
10 them. For a week. however, the |
Insects have been swarming, and their /
flights, while not on such a prodigious |
scale, greatly resemble those of a third |
IF century ago. In fields that have |
been examined IL has been found that |
The ground is perforated with holes |
where the insects have deposited their
eggs, and 1t is this fact that causes
farmers to regard the locust as a real |
menace.