Baxter Springs news., 1919-07-25
17-YEAR LOCUST :
IS SLOWLY CONC
Causes Leading to Disappear
anOe Outlined by Department
Of Agriculture.
TO Be EXTINCT m. TIME
Circular Gives succInet History Of In
sect and the Protective Means
That Can BE Taken
Against Il.

WashIngt0n.-lluve you an Ideal In
the absolute In hOpelessness?
We'll. lei II be said that the house In
which ycu live Is comparatively new
built within the last II years. The
ground Jn which II stands was orig
innlly w0odlnnd. In the summer Of
1902 all the trees thereabOuts were full
of l7-year locustS. Eggs were depos-
tied In the branches. the larvae came
out. dropped lightly to the ground. and
dug IN. The long period Of subtcr-
ranean existence Is almost ended. In
May the insects will start toward the
light and Gr--and will come in con.
tact with the concrete floor Of your
cellar! There may he another Situa-
ton as hopeless. hut certainly none
more SO.
That clearing up of woodland for
the building OF houses and for cultiva.
tion is the principal agency tl1ge4s.mall-
ing the l7-year locust. NflpAh real
name is the periodical CIcaha. II van.
fishing species. Dr. Gideon II. Smith.
une of the earlier scientific observers.
allowed rather II melancholy note to
creep into his invaluable manuscript
when he wrote thnI future generations.
II they read his writings at all. would
shake their heads aud think nf him as
a rOmancer.
Being Slowly Exterminated.
In the same note. also. &. l.. Mariatt,
one of the latest systematic observ-
ers. writes in his bulletin, 'TO the
lover Of nature there IL something re-
gretiahle in this slow determination Of
an insect which presents, as does the
periodical cicada. 80 much that Is In
teresting and anWnnl0us." -
Thus. the present.day experts Of the
United ;tates department Of agricul-
ture agree with the early observer that
the time will come when there will be
no periodical cicadas left.
That time. however. Is long way
of. There will he multiplied millions
of them this year and in other years
to come. For many persons the cicada
will he H. new II sight us ii was to the
first observers when they came from
Europe Ia the American forests. Mod.
ern writ;n. on the subject is done. Of
course IN the light of all the Observa-
tionS that have been made through
more than 3u0 years. They lack the
freshness nf the writings of men who
saw the ricada before literature Of
the insect. had been built up. Those
early writings, therefore. possess an
unusual interest.
Accompanied by Fever.
In 1859 Nathaniel MOretOn. who
lived at Cambridge. Mass. wrote New
England'S Memorial" In II he told OF
"a kind Of peStllent fever" that had
prevailed in 1873 and carried on
many of the whites and Indians In and
near Plymouth"
ut is tu be observed" he says, that
the spring before there was numer-
Gus company of flies which were like
for blgneSs unto wasps or bumble-bees,
they came out of little holes In the
ground. and did eat up the green
things. aud made such a constant yell
ing Noise ms made all the woods ring
of them and ready to deaf the hear
erS.''
The old gentleman Is to be excused
for believing that the cicadas ibid eat
ND the green things" The appearance
of the dead and withered branches
doubtless was such as TO justify such
conclusion. One 1T. NJ" supposed to
he Thomas Matthews. son Of Samuel
Matthews. governor Of Virginia. who
observed tn" cicadas In 1873, fell into
the same error.
For nearly 200 years, then, the writ
tcn record Of the cicada has been
pIiing up, undergoing corrections now
and then. receiving new discoveries
from time 10 time. As nearly as can
be Judged IL Is complete now. The
latest addition Is a circular, 'The Sew
enteen-Year Locust in l919," by Dixon
Merritt Of the Office Of Information.
United States department Of agrlcul-
lure. II does not pretend to present
new facts, but 1t gives succinct his
tory Of the cicada and the protective
means that can he taken against II.
The circular will be available to inter
ested persons in the q states where
the periodical cicada will appear this