Droughts and Grasshoppers

The supper discussion at our table this evening between Marvin, Gene, Elaine and I, touched on the Drought and Depression years of the 1930's. While we have had dry years in the mid '50's, and others, they didn't compare with the extended drought of the '30's. Marvin is a couple years older than me and told of his Dad cutting dried up corn with a grain binder and then shocking it like wheat. They later ground it and fed it to cattle. We talked about seeing the flocks of grasshoppers flying over and darkening the suns rays. I remember of a sieve over the grain bin of a combine to catch the remains of grasshoppers to keep them out of the wheat grain. It was my job to keep the sieve clean by pushing them off the edge when I was about 10 years old. We have come a long way with our Soil and Water Conservation programs' and I hope that we never see the return of such dust storms and droughts.