Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-30
AN ENDLESS BUzz|NG
Country Rings With Sounds
of Locusts.
BROOD Is NOT LARGE
HAS ALREADY DISAPPEARED
FROM THE PARKS.
Scientists Lament Locusts' Probable
Observation-Disclosures Farmers
Help It Along.

gomery and Prince Georges counties, IN
Maryland, and of the District of Columbia
have resounded with the peculiar and rasp-
ing buzz of the seventeen-year locusts.
Gauged by that sound they have taken pos
session of all the trees and half the mead
ows from Fairfax, Va, to Laurel, Md,
and the whole aspect of country life has
been changed accordingly. The locusts
have now supplanted heat and cold, cloud
bursts and drouth, in the conversation of
the Branch farmers, and have taken first
place in the attention of all the Washing
tonians who work in the national capital
and live in the nearby country.
Several scientists in the service of either
the Smithsonian Institution or the Agricul-
tural Department have already made in
formal tours of inspection through the
country indicated. Their reports are to
the effect that ubiquitous as the locust
would seem from his music and plentiful
as he is to the eye the brood of this year
is Tar less strong numerically than that of
1888 Many causes have contributed to this
decrease, they say, and will operate to les
sen still further the brood of 1919. Every
where they saw birds and chickens eating
the locusts before there could possibly be
time for the insects to deposit their eggs
Maryland Well Supplied.
But even in its present limitations the
domain OF the locust in Maryland seems to
be large enough for any purpose. Advices
received from all the middle and eastern
parts OF the state indicate that he abounds
elsewhere in almost as full force as in
montgomery and Prince Georges counties
IN western Maryland the brood has NOT
Deen SO large but wherever there ia roll
ing country broken by woods and farms
the sound of the locust Is the nrevaiIine
note of the landscape
In the neighborhoOd of Chew C,b,.. ~.
pest seems to be particularly nrnero,s
ihrough all the thickets and wooded land
.ieI eapouts the trees and bushes are COW
e[eo with the delicate brown shells in
winch TINS years brood spent the last few
years of its residence underground A.
I"llsht the whole country rings with the
locust buzz. One spot on the golf course
rs perforated with the holes through which
tocustS came to the surface. The trees
from which the grubs fell in 1885 was ont
GOWN however, to improve the course. and
MLeh the locusts came to the surface two
weeks ago they found no tree trunk to
cliinp. with the instinct which marks
every phase of animal life. the 1ocnsts
crawled directly to the stump of the tree
discovered by exploration that their foster
i hi;n had been destroyed, and crawled
pllndiy along until they reached a hedge
ana nestled among its leaves
Many Killed by improvements.
Few stories of this kind can be told. how
ever Field after field about Washington
mas oeen piowed SO deeply as to kill the
entire brood which buried itself in that
soil seventeen years ago. New roads have
been built; much building of other kinds
mas occurred, even in the rural districts:
every phase of municipal improvement has
reached out into the county since the last
brood, and all these have involved the de-
struction of thousands and thousands or
iocusts- Excavations for cellars or foun-
cations throw the insects to the surface
iong before they have matured Road
building has more effect than plowine IaI,
cling and filling to give the county nore
even surface destroy the locusts Instantly
IN snort, wherever the land has been re-
G Iey cultivated or improved the brood of
locuStS has been Killed.
The insects which have survived +basa
lnhuences have Jared almost as badly
since discarding their old shells The birds
nave already eaten the entire brood in tho
city parks and made great inroads on tho
broods in the country For about two davs
the Museum grounds vibrated with the To-
GUSTS song" After that time there ,vos
only the .cheep' of the English sparrow
who had filled his stomach on the insacts,
toothsome bodies. AS far as the Mail 10
concerned, there will be practically no
1919. " OH III
Away from the city English sparrows are
not so numerous and the consumntion of
the locusts before they could deposit their
eggs has not been general. Chickens
plack BIRDS and cat birds have come to the
sparroWs aid, however, and MANY MANY
thousands OF insects have been eaten
Next Brood Will Be Small.
In consequence the next brood of "cicada
septendecim' is expected to be very small
In the neighborhood of Washington. Thirty
four years may possibly exterminate the
species in the District of Columbia This
would be merely the operation of fixed
natural laws, say the entomologist. and ia
as certain as the sequence of years he
tween broods. But in the country the grad
ual oecllne OF the species will require a
longer time although even there new
agencies are being introduced to prevent
the deposit OF eggs. fungus growth is
DeHeVed IN many quarters to kill the locusts
tne instant they come in contact with 1t,
elthef directly or by contagion from infect
ed locusts Many farmers are purchasin1
chemicals which are said to kill locusts If
they have their way there will be no brood
at all seventeen years from now
This possibility is viewed with d,smav
by many students of biology and kindred
sciences. In their judgment the locust not
only does no harm but presents one of
the most interesting fields for study in all
the realm of animal life. He lives above
ground for only a few weeks. Hiss buzz
is not disagreeable. He Is one of the most
beautiful creatures in the whole animal
Kingdom That popular prejudice, based
entirely on transformation, should lead to
the complete determination of such a crea-
ture is in their opinion little less than a
calamity.
Non-scientific Americans will prove diff
icult converts to this chain Of reasoning.
In the popular mind the locust stands for
destruction and waste. Stories are told
everywhere of broods which ate the lumber
on houses and barns until they looked
like boards fresh from the mill" of crops
devasted in a few hours, and Of numerous
children who died instantly from the poison
of locust stings." To all this the album
dance of the insect, the disagreeable sight
of the little brown shells on the trees and
the all-pervading, overwhelming buzz Of
their six-weeks life above ground give en-
phasis. The popular judgment Is that the
seventeen-year locust is a dreadful pest
and ought to be destroyed.
Prejudice VS.. Science.
AS far back the history Of Aryan in
| fiuence In America, almost, this belief in
the ravages of the locust has been record
ed. Plymouth which numbered among its
earliest settlers. several men of scientific
inclinations. fell under the spell Of the
locust horror in 1888. only thirteen years
after it was founded.
An odd publication called New England's
Memorial dwells at length on a very
strange and deadly sickness which smote
q In hat