The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-06-13
DOUBLE INVASION OF LOCUSTS

another cataclysm has come upon us;
| it will only be a violent declaration
that the armistice of the seventeen
year variety, has expired, and that
| the noisy cicada, as the scientists pre-
| fer to call it, Is again abroad In Its
periodical attack on the orchards and |
forests of the land, particularly the |
younger trees of the fruit-bearing or |
chards.
Scientific men who make it profess
sion to study and classify the various
breeds and tribes of predatory insects
can foretell the coming of the seven
! teen year locusts with the same ac-
curacy that the astronomers can pre-
diet the eclipses. They know that he
comes with rush at regular intervals
and then disappears in less than two
months. So accurately is the system
of schedules arranged in advance that
the horticultural interests know al
most to the day when he will make
Ibis noisy charge, and just in what sec
tons of the country the attack will be
precipitated. This year he is expec-
ted to appear in greatest numbers in
the following states: Alabama, Dis
trict of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,
MARYLAND, Massachusetts, Michigan,
New Jersey, New York, North Caro-
lima, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Car
DINA, Tennessee, Vermont. Virginia,
West Virginia and Wisconsin.
While everyone uses the term To-
Gust, technical authorities all agree
that this is misapplied, and that it is
not locust at all. They insist that
the term locust belongs only to the
grasshopper family, and that the sew
enteen year pest also has thirteen
year side partner. 1t is when the
seventeen-year and the thirteen-year
tribes make their appearance coinci-
dentally that the greatest harm is
done. The visitation this year is ex-
pected to be particularly severe be-
cause the cicada calendar, regarded as
well-nigh infallible, calls for a double
bill. This conclusion is based on the
lfact that the seventeen-year class COM
ing out in the next few months, is
brood 10, perhaps the largest of the
= seventeen-year-ol and the brood 10
of the thirteen-year family is schedul-.
ed to emerge at the same time, and
thereupon the two armies will be OPP
E Grating competitively to some extent
The worst locust year in the his
A tory of the United States, as shown
to lby the records of the chronological
of section of the Department of Agricul-
ed Iture, was in 1868, when brood 10, the
i largest of the thirteen-year class
lie emerged in conjunction with brood TO-
e: the two combining to make record
j. linfestation. But science has been
r busy since then, and it's votaries have
V. so to speak, gotten the numbers OF
h. both classes of winged Huns.
Mt The statement has often been made
o., that the cicada is the most interesting
S. of all insects, because it has always
ol. appeared to be SO mysterious. The
nd fact that it comes in countless num-
lis bers one year, and then is not seer
of again for thirteen or seventeen years
pi, only to reappear in reinforced leglons
s. has kept the popular mind mystitiet
he to a great extent, and besides ha
woven many superstitions about tn
be cicada--or locust, as unscientific lay
re- men call him.
lg- The insect, first of all, spends thir
ri teen or seventeen years IN SLOW de
CT velopment beneath the ground an
Eat comes forth to the light and air
almost exactly the same spot where
err, entered thirteen or seventeen year
The before. One of the oldest things abou
is it is that, in spite of its exceedingl
lis slow development in its subterranea
rly habitat, all the millions and even bi
ar lions of individuals forming the gran
will Iarmy attain maturity and burst fort
at the same time.
Locust years" for hundreds
years back, have been regarded wit
much unfeigned fear and dread.
+ times past dire predictions were mad
tho of wars and other calamities to b.
.ay fall, either with the coming or aft'
at the departure of the insects. TIL
rad was particularly true with the Indian
act who regarded the periodical flights {
he harbingers of great misfortunes, ar
cer at such times the medicine men Of Il
,es tribes were worked overtime desigl
,as. ing, or otherwise preparing panacei
' to ward off the dangers. This supe
as stition even spread to the civllize
Some have fancied that they cou
,er. identify the cry of the cicada as
nos resemblance TO the prohulciutioh !,
the word Pharoah, the name of Il
Egyptian monarch who so relentle!s
ly prosecuted the ancient Jews. A
LC0CiOn mas DeeH Cdllcu W thC va
N bars that occur on the filmy wings
" the insect, in the shape of the lett
w, which to many used to mean
forerunner of war.
= In young orchards and nurseries e
d. perts have recommended that II
ground under the trees be watcht
closely, and that the insects be gat
cred by hand and destroyed as 500
as they emerge. When the emer
Ia ence is on wholesale scale the ta
IRE is likely to be quite onerous, but tho
lie. sands can easily be shaken off in
)r. bags or open umbrellas without mu
he exacting labor. As soon as tn
cd come out of the ground they make f
'us the trees, and. at times as many as
ets thousand can be scraped off with
;. brush. Robert H. Moulton, in Chr
'o9 tian Herald.
!, To Prevent Belching
1. ,1;4 a,t,rnr cir