The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1919-03-25
Will LOCUSTS SWEEP
GEORGIA THIS YEAR?
ARE DUE TO APPEAR IN LARGE
SWARMS. FEDERAL EXPERTS
ARE NOT ALARMED.

WAShING1ON, ID. Great
swarms of the 17-year locusts will
infest the United States in late Nav
and early June this year, which is
expected by scientists to be one of
the worst locust years" on record.
Experts of the department of agri-
culture, however, see nothing alarm
ing in the prospect.
Once regarded superstitiously as
harbinger of disaster, the periodi-
cal cicada, popularity known as the
17-year locust because it comes at
long intervals, is seen now to be no
more than an ordinary non-poison-
Gus insect pest, which can do little
damage II proper precautions are ia
ken. The chief injury inflicted by the
insect consists almost wholly in CHS
cling grooves in the branches of trees
for depositing eggs. Young fruit
trees sometimes are killed, but the
damage generally seems greater than
it actually is, according to the ento-
biologists, and popular alarm is out
of proportion to the real danger.
Precautionary Measures.
Suggested precautionary measures
are: Defer putting out young fruit
trees until next year; postpone bud
ding operations; 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 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 seventeen years ago and in
other regions which suffered thir-
teen years ago, the states including
Alabama, District of Columbia, Della
ware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Ken
lucky, Iowa, Maryland, Massachu-
sets, Michigan, New jersey, New
York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, South Carolina, Tennessee,
Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia
and Wisconsin.
Brood May Be Very Large
Belief that the 1919 brood will
be exceptionally large is based on
the fact that the 17-year brood COM
ing out this year is brood 10, per-
haps the largest of the 17-year brood,
and that brood Is of the 13-year
family comes out at the same time.
The year 1868 was the greatest To-
Gust year in history, when brood 10,
the largest Of the 13-year family, APP
peared in conjunction with brood 10
Of the 17-year family.
There will be three regions of
greatest occurrence of brood 10, one
covering New Jersey, Maryland and
eastern Pennsylvania; another cover
ing all Of Indiana, the greater part
of Ohio ana southern Michigan; and
third covering western northern
Georgia. While brood 10 will affect
twenty states, brood 10 will appear
in five states-Alabama, Georgia,
North Carolina, South Carolina and
Tennessee, and only limited areas in
those states.
Worlds Most Interesting Insect,
c. L. Marlatt, chairman of the fed |
eral horticultural board, who has per- |
fected the information on the cicada, !!
calls the insect the most interesting !
in the world, because Of the spec
tacular swarms in which it appears, |
its recurrence at long intervals and !,
the portentous significance frequent
ly attached to it. Every locust year
has been year of fear and dread |
even in civilized times Some people |
have fancied that they could detect |
in the cry of the insect resemblance