Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-02-06
"17.YEAR LOCUST COMING
Department Of Agriculture Tell How
tn Meet Clcnda Pest

| The year 1919 is likely to be one OF tne
worst locust years on record. But
| entomologists of the United states de-
partment of agriculture see nothlng
| alarming in the prospect.
The periodical cicada, the real name of
| the insect commonly called locust Will
appear this year in the following States:
| Alabama, District of Columbia, Della
4 ware, Georgia. Illinois. indiana, Iowa,
| Kentucky Maryland, Massachusetts.
| Michigan. New Jersey, New York, North
| Carolina, Ohio Pennsylvania. South
| Carolina, Tennessee. Vermont Virginia,
| West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The injury done by the periodical
| cicada consists almost wholly in chiseling
| grooves in the branches of trees for de-
| posting eggs. This injury always APP
| pears to be greater than it actually Is.
Popular alarm is usually out Of proper
| ton to general damage.
Young fruit trees are sometimes killed
by the ccada. The precautionary
| measures are Defer putting out young
fruit trees till next year; postpone bud
| ding operations; do pruning this
| winter spring.
| When the insects begin coming out
hand pick them from young fruit trees
or spray them with pyrethrum powder
| kerosene emuSlonS or q solution OF
carbolic acid or acetic acid.
Later when the insects are ready to
begin laying. spray young fruit trees
| with whtewash.
The most interesting insect in the
world, the periodical cicada is going to
be seen, perhaps in very large numbers,
during the coming spring and early sum-
mer over large regions Of the United
States where this brood has not appeared
| before for seventeen years and over other
regions where another brood appeared
thirteen years ago. This is the insect
commonly referred to as the "17-year
locust" a name that is incorrect in at
least two particulars. 1t is not locust
at all, that name being properly applied
| only to members of the grasshopper
| family. and while it has a 17-year period
| it also has 13-year period. 1t has been
so long miscalled by the name of locust
| however. that there is no hope of divest-
| ing 1t of that incorrect appellaton, and
| in the regions where there is the longer
| period of recurrence, it will continue to
| be known as the "17-year locust" and in
| the areas of the shorter recurrence
| period, as the "l3-year locust" The
scientifically accepted name of periodical
cicada therefore. is the only one that
exactly Ats.
The statement that this is the most
interesting insect in the world will hardly
| be questioned anywhere, and it is the
| most interesting because it is the most
| anomalous, or possibly, because 1t has
| always appeared to be so mysterious
| The fact that 1t appears in countless
| numbers one year, then Is not seen
again for half the average life time of
human beings and then suddenly appears
| again in countless numbers, has kept the
popular mind mystifed and has woven
many supcrsttions about the ccada.
When it is known that the insect spends
the thirteen or seventeen years in slow
development beneath the ground and
energies at almost exactly the same spot
where 1t entered the ground thirteen or
seventeen years before-then the
mystery disappears but the interest, if
anything, is intensified. One of the
queerest things in nature is that in spite
of such extremely slow growth in their
subterranean habitat, all the millions of
individuals attain maturity and burst
from the ground at almost the same
moment.
CICADA'S APPEARANCE FORETOLD
ACCURATELY
Every locust year. is, in some sort
have been so with the savages and has
remained so with their civilized sue
cessors. notwithstanding the fact that
the cicada has been under investigation
for well over 200 years, and the appear
ance of the swarms are foretold by
entomologists as accurately as eclipses of
the moon are foretold by astronomers
People have fancied that they could
detect in the cry of the cicada q re-
semblance to the name of the monarch,
Pharaoh, that prosecuted the Israelites,
and that occult belief of fear added to
the somewhat dolorous sound has served
to make the cry of the cicada generally
an unwelcome one. Very long ago some
superstitions attached to the dark bars
of the filmy wings. These bars are al
ways in the shape of the letter w, but
few people remember that through a
period Of thirteen seventeen years,
and great Significance Is attached to it
at each recurrence. Some prophet has
arisen always to announce that the w on
the locust's wings means war" Since
this outbreak will come just at the con-
clusion of the greatest war. and when
even the imagination of the rural prophet
could hardly conjure up the likelihood Of
another one, some new explanation will
apparently have to be found this time.
But no doubt the ccada will, as usual,
be greeted harbinger of disaster,
and as usual, there will be reports of
deaths caused by stings of the cicada. a
belief that has persisted in spite Of posi-
| tive proof that the cicada has has no
sting, that only by the EXTREMIST accident
could it infiict wound either with bill
| or ovipositor. and that it could not, in
| any case. inject poison.
Any attempt to dispel the myths that
recur as faithfully as the cicada is like
still believe in them probably will con-
tinue to do so regardless of anything
that may be said. There Is, however,
| another erroneous belief that may be
| somewhat shattered by a statement of
the facts and that constitutes the main
reason for press-agenting the ccada in
advance Of its arrival.
INJURY is USUALLY OvERESTI-
MATED
Upon every appearance Of large broods
or the cicada. fear is aroused that trees
wNl be destroyed. particularly young
trees OF the fruiting and ornamental
species, There would seem to be some
ground Tor such fear. The number of
the insects is so tremendous that one
can hardly understand how they can
deposit their eggs in the young and
tender branches of the trees without
killing them. Yet the fact remains that
there have been outbreaks of cicadas in
some sections of the United States in