Evening star., 1936-07-03
THIS AND THAT
Sudden gusts of wind occurred Ut in
feruals all during tho dau
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Sudden gusts Of wind occurred Ut In
tervals all during the day.
They seemed to come out of nowhere,
and to vanish as quickly as they came.
Seemingly they had no purpose, but
Nature knew what she was doing.
She was sending to the ground all
the ends Of branches In which the
cicadas had layed their eggs.
Thousands upon thousands Of these
twigs, with their Drowned leaves, now
litter the streets, parkings and lawns
of those areas in which the 17-year
locusts appeared.
Only those interested in these curious
insects realized that this was Mother
Natures way Of getting the new crop,
to appear in the light in 1858, down to
the earth at last.
If you fancy these insects, and believe
them comparatively harmless, let these
twigs, usually about q foot long, lie
where they fell.
They will do no harm there, but will
insure new crop Of locusts those many
years hence.
If you believe the locusts do harm,
gather them up and burn them, or other
wise destroy them.
No doubt thousands Of these branch
ends will escape the lawn cleaners. the
brooms and the rakes In the hands Of
the tidy.
Thousands will be picked up and
carted away. Many will be let lie through
indifference.
Either way, it makes no difference to
Nature.
She is prodigal.
Think Of eternity, think Of all space.
Recall her 2S,000,000 eggs from one
mother fish, most of them to be eaten
at once, only a few to escape to hatch
and grow up into large fishes.
Nothing shows the prodigality of Ma
ture more than the cicadas. Hundreds
Of thousands of them were trampled to
death, eaten by dogs, rolled over by
motor cars. Birds loved them.
Thousands lost their lives in the climb
up trees and shrubs to the tips.
1t is these tips which now litter lawns
and from which the first stage Of the
new locust emerges to go down into the
earth. The progress down several feet
is not quick, but is q matter Of two or
three years.
The loss of these tip ends will in few
cases, We believe, do any real damage to
trees or shrubs. but will in effect con-
stitute a simple pruning. which ought to
do the trees or shrubs good in the long
run.
We have kept careful watch over this
feature of this most interesting natural
wonder. The trees Of our home COM
munity are as fine as exist anywhere.
AS far as We can see. absolutely no harm
has come to them, because Nature first
increased their growth and foliage before
she brought the locusts.
No doubt there are many persons who
will not give the universal mother credit
for knowing this much. Yet a little
study shows that she works in many
wonderful ways, only few of which
are known as yet to mankind.
The story Of the chemical composition
of the blood is a tale beyond belief, If it
were not vouched for by devoted scien-
lists who have spent their lives doing
nothing else except find out these secrets.
The list of separate compounds in the
blood is a long one, utterly unknown to
the layman.
We would ask all persons who believe
their trees and shrubs injured by the
locustS to wait and see.
The withered tips on every branch will
90 little damage in the long run. The
scientists say that. and common sense
tells the same story. All one has to do
is to look up at the giant oaks and