Grasshoppers and Army-Worms
By W. H. S.
GRASSHOPPERS appeared in the state of New York in the second week of July, and quickly became a serious menace to the crops. Governor Glynn disposed that $50,000 should be furnished the agricultural department for fighting the pest. Soon after came reports of a visitation of army-worms in Michigan, New York, New England, and running south into Maryland. The losses from this invasion totaled several million dollars, in spite of the efforts of thousands of farmers and employees of the state to check it. The army-worm gets its name from its habit of moving in close formation, in columns from a foot to a few feet in width. It will cover and obliterate a field of growing grain, or a lawn, overnight, and many incidents of the kind occurred during the last incursion. Poison and other means are effective for combating them; but the worms quickly mature, and thus the plague subsides naturally. W. H. S.