The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-26

remark. Happy IL tho male cicada,
since his wife has no voice" He re-
ferred, of course. to the fact that the
male alone Is responsible for the sing
| ing OF the family. This singing" by
the way. is not the product Of the CT
cadAs vocal organs. but the sound 10
made By the violent vibration OF q
drum-like arrangement located be-
meath and near the base of the wings
Of the male.
Turning from ancient Greeks to
modern Americana. 1t can be said that
. variety OF interesting facts have
been learned in recent years of this
creature. For instance. 1t was learned
upon tn last occasion or the visit of
this big brood that no one could walk
| through parks. streets, lanes or alleys
without crushing dozens of them I'M
/ derfoot. Wherever there were trees
or smaller vegetation q hurrying.
crawling mass swept this way and
that, and limbs, boughs and leaves
were literally alive with countless
thousands. who cheered the weary
| traveller on his way with ceaseless
song.
They invaded every house in the
! communities they visited. They fnvad-
| ed every business establishment They
/ insinuated themselves into kitchens
| and dining rooms. and crawled over
| the plate OF the diner with the same
impunity with which they strolled over
| his PROSTATE form while he slept.
| In the suburban and country dis
| tricts they were likewise no respec-
tors of persons. The lady of the house
had added to her daily duties the task
| of carrying QUITE bagful OF boxful Of
| cicadas every morning.
Farmers met with the pests wher-
| ha a1H Col In
Missouri saw SO many of the things
that he got SO he could see nothing
! else. Cne day he mistook his prize
| porker for a cicada and swiped the
unsuspecting hog over the pate with
| a gate post.
A suggestion that the creatures were
| good to eat. probably made by some
student of the affairs of ancient Greece,
results in various attempts being made
in the Eastern States in 1902 to utilize
| the cicada as q foodstuff A man in
Delaware proposed to establish a cam
merry. After gathering an immense
! collection of the bugs and when he
had everything in readiness to begin
business, he found that the whole tribe
backyard of his neighbor. who was
| generously inoculating them with cor
| rosive sublimate.
But the festive cicada was not to 20
uneaten. Chef Hesler, a Frenchman
making his home In New York, gave
the following recipe:
Remove the shells from two hand
| fuls of cicadas. throw them into hot
water for a moment. and then place
/ them in a saucepan over a hot range
| with an ounce of butter. Season slight
ly with salt and a half teaspoonful of
! red pepper. Add two truffles cut in
| small pieces and after soaking for five
minutes add a glass of Madeira wine
Beat three egg yolks in bowl with
half pint ofsweet cream Add this
| to the cicadas. Stir until thick and
| serve in n warm tureen."
| Maryland epicure invited a number
| of his friends to his country place
near Baltimore and treated them TO
| cieada pie, which several of them said
was very good. The others reserved
| their opinion-until they were out of
the hearing of their host. Mr.. Bou-
chat thus described his method of pre-
pairing the, delicacy 90: Mt4
/ FIFTY cfcadas were required for
| each plate. 1 first scalded them and
| trimmed off the wings. heads and legs
Then, putting them into wooden
| bowl / chopped them fine, mixed in
stale bread soaked in milk, and pre-
pared in the same way as Hamburger
steak. Instead of salt and pepper
added sugar and ruhbarb as flavor, and
cream to soften the Ingredients. then
put the mixture into regular dough
pie-bottom the same as custard
pie and covered with a cross-open top.
The pies were then placed in an oven
ahd baked"
Professor Howard. of the United
States Bureau of Entomology, after in
vestigating the creature from every
other standpoint, testifies that he
finally tackled a dish of them and
found them very palatable.
1t is a matter OF record that the
American Indians made the cicada a
part of their daily meals in season.
The Puritans are said also to have
eaten the bug when they first reached
these shores, which, however. should
not be held against the Puritans. for
they probably thought they had come
across the creature that John the Bap-
fist was wont to eat with wild honey.
If anyone hereabouts is dissatisfied
because this years crop of cicadas does
not promise to be quite as large as
that of 1902 he may find profit and
peace of mind in the following state
ment prepared by statistical bugolo-
gist:
There were 1000, 000. 000, 900 cicadas
in the Eastern States in 1902. 1t would
require $50 of these to fill a quart cup,
so that the crop of 1902 measured Just
225,00000O bushels This was equal to
one-half of the bulk of the cOuntry's
annual wheat crop. and double the
crops of rye, barley and buckheat al
together. 1t would form a cube of $780,
100000 feet, or fill a box 500 feet
tall. 500 feet wide, and 500 feet long.
A careful digestion of these facts
should inspire us with gratitude that
Brood XIX is not to be quite so large.
The cicada has a reputation for de-
structiveness is does not deserve, but
which is a part of the burden 1t must
bear as the result of it's supposed re-
lationship to the locust. The period
zeal cicada becomes notably Injurious
only In the course of its egg-laying.
During its short aerial life 1t leaves
very decided marks of Its presence in
egg Sits, which thickly fill many small
twigs and branches, the killing or in
jury OF which causes some temporary
harm, and a sort OF general twig prun-
ing. not especially injurious to forest
trees. but more so to fruit trees, es-
pecially young orchards and nursery
planted, especially in land close to a
forest the year preceding the vista
ton of the clcada.
Like all insects, the cicada passes
through the egg ,larva. pupa and adult
stages. The principal difference from
other lowly creatures Is it's long life
underground. There are many others
that live nearly a year In the soil, and
a few. such as the common white grub
he Ia nf