sets off that blond that is pinned just beyond
In a way most artistic and neat.
And now let me show you the latest,--
A specimen really select,
A boy with a head that is carroty-red
And a face that is funnily specked._

"_'We cannot decide where to place him;
Those spots bar him out of each class;
We think him a treasure to study at leisure
And analyze under a glass.'
I seemed to grow cold as I listened
To the words that these butterflies spoke;
With fear overcome, I was speechless and dumb,
And then with a start,--I awoke!_"

--ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

CHAPTER III

THE GRASSHOPPER

The grasshopper or locust is one of the most ancient plagues of
cultivated crops. From the earliest time they have destroyed crops.
During Moses' sojourn in Egypt they were so destructive as to cause
severe famine and various other references to their destructive work are
to be found in the early writings. Since those early days, just think of
the crops that have disappeared between the greedy jaws of grasshoppers!

In our own country it has not been many years since the sun was darkened
for days by clouds of grasshoppers as they settled down from the Rocky
Mountains upon the growing crops in the neighboring states. One day a
field might have a promising crop and by the next day it might be left
as bare as a dry stubble field in August. Those days of great
destruction in America have largely passed but each year the active jaws
of "hoppers" devour a handsome fortune.

[Illustration: Common differential locust or grasshopper; a, egg nests
underground; b, young nymph; c, d, older nymphs; e, adult grasshopper;
f, nymph feeding on grass. This shows development with incomplete
metamorphosis.]

In the same order with the grasshoppers come the crickets, katydids,
rear-horses, devil's darning-needles or walking-sticks, and cockroaches.
The grasshoppers are most troublesome, however. They deposit eggs in the
ground and in other protected places. In the spring these hatch into
young "hoppers" scarcely larger than a pin head at first. Throughout the
early summer these small fellows feed and increase in size. They burst
their old skins and crawl out of them a number of times as they grow
larger. Toward fall they become full grown with four strong wings and
very powerful hind legs for jumping. In this condition most of the
common g