Grasshopper Plague in Missouri and Nebraska
An exemplification of the speedy ruin Mr. Wells told us last week would result from the cessation of production may be seen in Missouri and Nebraska to-day. The grasshoppers have caused a suspension of agricultural labor, the fields are deserted, cattle are without food, the land is unsalable, and the whole country is rapidly lapsing into a condition of utter prostration. Not farmers alone suffer, but the merchants and even the wholesale houses at St. Louis, whose trade has been with the devastated country, are actually on the verge of bankruptcy. The terrible condition of affairs can hardly be imagined, and no means have been found yet of averting the plague. The grasshoppers may be killed, but from the ashes of each one appear to rise ten more. Only discouragement attends any attempt to destroy them. What the end will be no one can foresee. Advices from Winnipeg, Manitoba, say that the grasshopper is hatching out by myriads.