New Britain herald., 1919-04-04
" YEAR LOCUST IS
 DUE 10 RETURN
~EXperts See Nothing Alarming Ill
 Insect Invasion

v-asbinpton. April 4--Great swarms of tho 17-year locust will infest the Tinted States in late May and early lime this year, which is expected pS scientists to be one of the worst TO- st years on record Experts or the A bartment of agriculture, however Ete nothing alarming in the prospect
 Once regarded superstitiously as tt hamburger of disaster. the pe1lodlcal cicada, popularly known as the IT. year locust because it comes at lohS intorvals is seen now to be no more than an ordinary non-poisonous insect pest. which can do little damage II nropaI. precautions are taken. The thief injury inflicted by the insect consists almost wholly in chiseling grooves in the branches of trees for fenositing eggs. Young fruit trees sometimes are killed, but the damage generally seems greater than 1t ac- tuallv is, according to the entomoio- rists and popular alarm is out of proportion to the real danger.
 Suggested. precautionary measures gre:
 Defer putting out young fruit trees until next year; postpone budding op- erations; do no pruning thls spring.
 When the insects begin coming out, , spray them with pyrethrum powder, Kerosene emulsions, or solution or carholic acid or acetic acid.
 Later, when the insects are ready to begin laying, spray young fruit trees S-with wfitewash.
 The department of agriculture has kept close check for many years Of all the broods of locusts and can forecast accurately when and where the pests will appear. Large regions will be affected this year where one brood appeared IT years ago and in uther regions which suffered 8 years ago. tho states including Alabama, District of Columbia Delaware, Geor- s-gia, II1inos, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland. Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Caro- lima, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Caro- Ilna Tennessee, Verm ont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
 Belief that the 1919 brood will be exceptionally large is based on the fact that the 17-year brood coming out this year is brood 10, perhaps E. the largest of the 17-year brood, and fthat brood IS of the 13-year family lcomes out at the same time. The : year. 1868 was the greatest locust year in history, when brood 19, the larg- est of the 13-year family, appeared in conjunction with brood 10 of the IT, year family.
 There will he three regions of greatest occu 1ce of brood 10, ono covering New Jersey. Maryland and eastern Pennsylvania; another cover ing all of Indiana, the greater part of Ohio and southern Michigan; and & third covering western North Caro- lima, eastern Tennessee and northern
 
 20 states. brood IS will appear in only five states-Alabama, Georgia. North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennes- see, and only limited areas in those > states.
 C. l.. Mar1ett, chairman of the fed eral horticultural board who has perfected the information on the ci- cada, calls the insect the most inter- esting in the world, because of the spectacular swarms in which it ap- pears, it's queer recurrence at long intervalsl and the portentous signifi- ~ canoe frequently attached to it. Every , locust year has been Q year of fear and dread, even in civilized times. 7 Some people have fancied that they could detect in the cry of the insect 8, resemblance to the name of the Egyptian monarch, Pharaoh, who per- secuted the Israelites. Superstition attached also to the shape of the filrny bars on the c1cada's wings, which seemed to form the letter 'FW'' interpreted as a, forecast of war.
 Since this outbreak will come just at the conclusion of the greatest war;" MT. Marlett said, land when even the imagination of the rural prophet could hardly conjure up the likelihood of another one, some new explanation will apparently have to to be found"