The sun., 1919-06-16
Motorists Forced to Put Up
Windshields to Cut Through
Army Of Bugs.
LONG ISLAND SUFFERS
Noise Of Airplale's Motor
II Drowned by Racket Of In
s. sects at MineOla.-


peril In these sections the strange bugs
which appear every seventeen years are
destroying fruit and hardwood trees In
q manner to dismay' the sturdy farmers
of New Jersey and Long Isiand-which
Is some dismay.
From Wantagh TO Farmingdale and
as far north as Central Park on Long
Island the pests are so thick that drivers
of automobiles yesterday had to put up
their windshields to drive by the hard
wood and fruit trees, where the locusts
coneregate. There only the noise of a
jitney can make the chorus Of the
cicadR Imperoeptible. Issuing from the
Massepeaua swamp they have scattered
about the surrounding farms in noisy
and alarming army. n
The United States Department Of Agri-
culture and the State Agricultural De-
partment, through the Nassau County
Farm Bureau, were aware that the pests
were coming. Several days ago they is
sued n warning to the farmers In that
locality that they were due. but the To-
Gusts have come from the ground, where
they take their seventeen-year siesta, In
numbers that surprised even the scien-
tific prophets
Pest Has TO Run Its Course.
Unfortunately there is nothing that
can be done to check the pest. 1t just
has to run itself out And the extent of
Its depredations will apparently depend
upon the vagaries of the locusts strength
and taste and upon the weather. Yes
terday there were evidences that the
locusts were migrating out Of the twenty
mile square, where they have appeared
on Long Island and officials OF the
Nassau County Farm b ;reau refused to
estimate the extent OF the ravage or the
damage that might be done. to, crops.
The chief anxiety Of the farmers af-
fected 30 far relates to their fruit
trees. The locust requires woody fibre
in which to lay Its eggs--it II In the egg
laying process that the damage IS done
and Germ and other crops had not as yet
been affected. No spray or other pro-
phylactic Is effective. because the locust
is a sucking" bug 1t lives by sucking
the sap of trees rather than by the de-
vouring OF the foliage.
The foliage is destroyed because the
female of the species--rnore deadly than
the maie--is equipped with an extremely
efficient trench digger attached to her
trench through the bark of, the outer
twigs Of fine trees and deposits her eggs
therein. The now OF sap to the leaves IL
thereby interrupted and the foliage
shriveis and dies
The eggs then develop into Iarva.
which drop to the ground. The
larvae burrow into the ground TO depth
Of from eight to ten feet, At the thir-
teenth year after interment the larvm
begin to change into pup@ and by the
beginning OF the seventeenth year the
pups are working toward the surface, to
come out whsn tho season b. right.
Makes wingeA Appearance.
Emerged from the ground the pupal
vestment Ia discarded and the locust
proper makes It's winged appearance In
n light green color. Age darkens this
color, however. and the females consre-
gate OF the tender twigs Of the trees while
the males sit by and by means of tiny
diaphragm Just under the second joint
OF their aftermost legs emit the weird
cry which Is keeping young horses ner-
vous and Jitneys Jealous II is between
the chirp of the cricket and the rasp OF
the ordinary locust and In choir 1t pro-
duces a sound higher. mora forceful.
more harsh and more compelling than
that OF the tree toad itself.
There Il but one virtue about the sew
enteen year locust. according to the
farmers about the MsssepequA swamp.
1t ceases Its noise with nightfali But
1t starts In again promptly AZ daybreak.
and when II starts, according to It's VIC
of bed and water the stock. Horses and
cows are the chief animate sufferers
from the pest.
The locust Is bug about an inch and
q quarter long and Is built both for speed
end sturdiness. II has powerful wings
and It's feet and underbody are decidedly
rough. Lighting upon the open neck of
a ploughmnn or within his steed.s ears Il
! invariably produces hectic results. Cows
are equally annoyed. Half a dozen
dairymen from near the Massapequa
swamp have been able TO serve their pa
irons with nothing but whipped cream
| since the locusts began to make the
COWS hop around last week.
Frederick Ohme Of the Nassau County
Farm Bureau was tho first of the tech
nicians TO get on the locusts. trail this
| year. Forewarned by the Federal De-
partment OF Agriculture whose records
showed that the pest had emerged just
seventeen years ago in the territory over
which Mr.. Ohme keeps watch. he issued
| a warning to his farmers some weeks
$50 and received reports Of the appear
ance OF the locust last week according
| to schedule. s.
So extensive was the appearance,
| however, that Il brought into Mr.. Ohme $
bailiwick not only II. j. Evans, head
of the Nassau County Farm Bureau at
| Mlneola, but NJ. J. Leonard, from Wash
| ington, and Prof. ICY" Crosby from
Ithaca, concerning whom the tradition
runs among his students and former
students that only the most serious OF
visitations can send him into the field,
Yes. SIR" said Mr.. Ohme yesterday.
'it's some doings when you can get 'Cy'
into your section"
Most Serious of the Year.
According to reports received by the
Federal department at Washington the
Long Island visitation Is the most serious
J OF the year. The pests have appeared
and disappeared in limited sections OF
Maryland, the District OF Columbia and
Virginia without arousing comment
Crops in that section were not seriously
damaged and the pest there In now dis
appearing. Near Red Bank, N. j.. and
on Long Island. however. they are
, causing great excitement.
One of the worst beleaEuered farms
In the Long Island area 10 that OF
Frederic Lang. south OF Farmingdale
on the edge OF the wild lands about
the Massapequa swamp. Mr.. Lang ex.
hibited yesterday to reporter for THr
sun group of maple trees whose
foliage had been completely shriyelled
by the ravages of the pests. The ground
beneath their branches was literally
covered with the animals, who had laid
their eggs and were prepared to finish
their existence.
Across the road in the wild brush re.
Gently burned over little oak trees stood
almost denudAn of folia ,A A e.. ~. -,