The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1919-03-11
SEVENTEEN YEAR
LOCUsTs COMING
GOVERNMENT SOUNDS WARN
ING AND TELLS HOW TO
COMBAT INSECT PESTS

4 Washington.-Grea swarms of tn
17-year locust will infest the Unite,
States in late May and early Jun
this year, which is expected by sci
entists to be one of the worst 30
Gust years" on record. Experts O.
the Department of Agriculture, how
ever, see nothing alarming in the
! prospect.
Once regarded superstitiously as {
harbinger of disaster, the periodical
cicada, popularity known as the IT.
year locusta because it comes at long
intervals, is seen now to be no more
than an ordinary poisonous insect
pest, which can do little damage if
proper precautions are taken. The
chief injury inflicted by the insect
consists almost wholly in chiseling
grooves in the branches of trees for
depositing eggs. Young fruit trees
sometimes are killed, but the dam
age generally seems greater than it
actually is, according to the entomol-
ogists, and popular alarm is out of
proportion to the real danger.
Suggested precautionary measures
are:
Defer putting out young fruit trees
until next year; postpone budding op-
erations; do no pruning this spring.
When the insects begin coming out,
hand pick them from young trees or
spray them with pyrethrum powder,
kerosene emulsions,s or a solution of
carbolic acid or acetic acid
Later, when the insects are ready
to begin laying. spray young fruit
trees with whitewash.
The Department of Agriculture has
kept. close check for many years of
all the broods of locusts and can fore
cast accurately when and where the
pests will appear. Large regions will
be affected this year where one brood
appeared II years ago and in other
regions which suffered IS years ago,
the states including Alabama, Dis
trict of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia,
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.
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 the
largest of the 17-year brood, and that
10 of the 13-year family comes out at
the same time. The year 1868 was
the greatest year in history, when
brood 10, the largest of the 13-year
family, appeared in conjunction with |
brood 10 of the 17-year family.
There will be three regions of great |
set occurrence of brood 10, one COW
ering New Jersey, Maryland and east
Don cylu r,1o h0,
al of Indiana, the greater part of Ohio |
and southern Michigan; and third
covering westaefn North Carolina,
eastern Tennessee and northern Geor-
gia. While brood 10 will affect 20 |
states, brood 1S will appear in only
i've states-Alabama, Georgia, North
Carolina, South Carolina and Ten
lessee, and only limited areas in those
states.
c. L. Marlatt, chairman of the Fed
sral Horticultural Board, who has
perfected the information on the CT
ada, calls the insect the most inter
sting in the world, because of the
pectacular swarms in which it ap-
'ears, its queer recurrence at long in
ervals and the portentous signifi-
ance frequently attached to it. Ev-
ry locust year has been year of
ear and dread, even in civilized times.
'ome people have fancied that they
ould detect in the cry of the in
ect resemblance to the name of the
Egyptian monarchr, Pharaoh, who
ersecuted the Israelites. Supersti-
ion attached also to the shape of the
ilmy bars on the dicada's wings,
'hich seemed to form the letter wv