Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-08-04

county. Many families VIII leave on
foot, having sold their cattle or horses
to keep them alive. Some general way
OF relieving those who must remain
must be put in operation right away.
else the first snow Of real cold weather
will send many a good man, or woman.
or child. to death-frozen. because they
will be 30 weak and emaciated that
they can not stand the rigors Of winter.
even in its weakest appearance.
Spring came at last. but with the
first warm days there came also mil
lions Of young grasshoppers. From tho
first the people saw In despair, par.
ticularly those to whom seed had been
furnished by the state. that the crops
were again doomed In vain they
struggled against the pest The con-
flict was once more at hand-almost q
test OF whether the locusts or the
settlers should leave the country; there
was not room for both Early in June
the residents Of Koesuth county d.
cided that the fourth Of July would
not be celebrated among them that
year: they could not afford to be pat
riotic. Meetings Of farmers were held
at which crop reports were heard end !
committees appointed to ascertain tho
vest time came. but there was nothing
to harvest. In the counties Of Kos
suth. Emmett. Dickinson. and parts Of
Palo Alto, Pocahontas. and Humboldt
:hc c-oss ware almost an entire fall
ure. The gardens In particular seem
to have suffered The estimates Of
losses in the agricultural reports varied
widely for the year 1874, but a unani-
nous complaint OF grasshopper ravages
came from the northwestern counties.
One county committee reported that
in that county (Emsnet), with its
twelve congressional townships. con-
tanning the well titled farms Of for
merly weli-to-do settlers. there remain
not to exceed fifty acres Of poor wheat.
one hundred acres Of poorer ,oats, and
corn and vegetables in the same ratio"
Farms. the actual value Of which
was from ten TO, fifteen dollars m acre.
sold for less than the government price.
It was estimated In May, 1878, that
Iowa had contributed over q million
dollars to the relief Of grasshopper suf-
erers since the last harvest Tho re-
lief committee Of the State Grange
alone paid out overS7.727 in 1874. Ger
tain 1t IS that the people responded %
generously to the needs Of the settlers
that great numbers were enabled 70
remain on their homesteads: while
doubtless there were many who were
saved from the pangs Of cold and hun.
ger.
A government commission found q
great number Of schemes being ssn-
ployed for the destruction OF the To-
Gusts. Some Of the states sought 70
avail themselves Of natural agencies
-, 1os <oy <hA tnp.
ton Of birds. To destroy the eggs.
narrowing in the autumn, plowing. ir-
rigation. tramping by stock turned into
the fields. ana collection proved the
most effective methods. In prairie and
wheat growing regions the surest
means Of destroying the unfedged 10.
Gusts was by burning, either while
they were In the grass or when they
collected for shelter during cold or
damp weather. Much could also -
done by rolling the fields II the ground
was smooth and hard. Trapping wa1
successful where the young grAsshop-
pers were travelling in armies. the
use OF chemicals was necessarily Linz
tied and more or less unsatisfactory. =
great number OF hopper dozers,n To-
Gust crushers, and other machines for
killing Or capturing the insects wefe
invented, some Of them being very in-
genious devices. Against the mighty
hosts of winged grasshoppers. however.
man was practically poweriess Some
times swarm could be warded ON "
making great siIisidEes. Constantly
dragging long ropes over grain fields
worked to good advantage IN some
cases Destruction Of insects and their
eggs by conclusion was tried but 1ittle.
good came Of 1t. About the only really
effective remedy for locust invasicns
was for the settlers to turn moro gem
orally to stock raising, instead Of stak-
ing. their entire hope upon crops q
grain. +
In an indirect way, it may be So
serted, the locust ravages did q great.
service to the agricultural interest9 o.
northwestern Iowa by making stock
raising a necessity Many fasmerS
went into the dairy business. But for
the coming Of the grasshoppefs the
custom OF farming exclusively for Brain
would probably have continued tor
many years, to the general imp0vefish.
ment Of the coil.