Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 August 1894 — NOW THEY ARE HERE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NOW THEY ARE HERE.

MILLIONS OF LOCUSTS APPEAR IN SOME SECTIONS. Both the Seventeen Year and Thirteen Tear Specie* Come from Their Lons Re*t Under the Ground—The Mo* t Remarkable of All Destructive Insect*. Where They Will Be Worth The year 1894 is a peculiarly unfortunate one for tbe farmers, in that it Is tho year for the appearance of both the treventesn-year and the thirtoonyear locusts. There will bo no failure bn the part of the insects to carry out the program, either, a. 3 both armies have already begun to arrive after a rest since 1877 or 1881 according to the species. The floods in the We>t§nji tne untimely cold weztlror in tho East have tended to defer the coming of these buzzing armies, but in almost all of the States they are beginning to form tboir lines of battle, and the people apprehend the beginning of the siege. All of the places overrun with the e two ftjmies jn 1877 and ar i Alive with tneir songs or will he in 5 Veek or two, since a'l a r ong the route of thoir last invasion they planted their eggs in the branches of the trees. The Government Entomologist’s report of the locusts’ depredations durf-g those seasons are ujed as hor scopes in which to read this year's probabilities. Accordingly, the 17-yoar brood will invade tho whole northern part of the country, especially in certain sections, beginning in the vicinity of Sohuvlcrville and Fort Miller, N. Y., ajonglpth sides of the Hudson, extending into Connecticut, across New Jersey, into Pennsylvania, striking Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, District of Columbia, V irginia, and North and South Carolina. The records of 1825, 1843, 1860, and especially of 1877 are abundant, stating the severity of tho plague in all of those localities, and old farmers can remember thoir trails in those years. The dividing line letwcon the two armies is about latitude 33 degrees, except in Illinois, whore it takes a turn north, including that Stats in the tsrritory which the l.’-year brood will visit. Southern Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Indian Territory, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Texas will all feel the Southern brood Bevere’y. Just how destructive the in ect is seems to be a disputed question. Tho

entomologists insist that while underground, though subsi-ting on tbe roots of trees, they rarely do much damago. and that duiing their life above ground their appoiite is not ravenous; that tbe damage wrought is not in what they eat, but it is the puncturing of the branches of the trees by the females in making nests for their eggs They have a tendency to attack th« topmost branches, and as a result tress subjected to their ravages speedily take on tbe appearance of those represented in the illustration in this article. In those sections where they have already appeared, however, the results seem to belie tne statements of the scientists, for the trees and plants and even the grain crops show discouraging evidences of their ravages. In some fields in Eastern New York tbe locusts are found to average more than one to the square foot. I rom a dozen to twenty of these creatures can be found on a single long blado of gras •■. The locust has innumerable enemies, but all combined do not seem able tto make any appreciate inroads on the vast hordes. The crows, sparrows and other winged gleaners of the fields feed upon them, as do the domestic

fowls and hogs. The Agricultural Department urges the farmers to turn their fowls and hegs into their orchards, thus iniuring the destruction of millions of the female < before they can reach the trees. Once the insects reach the trees there is no preventive. Lye, whitewash, sulphur, carbolic acid and a hundred other chemicals have been tried in vain. Because of its peculiar habits the locust, or cicada, has provoked much superstition. The letter Won each wing is said by the ignorant to forewarn the coming of war, a superstition strengthened by the fact that the insects a peered in great numbers in lf6o, at the breaking out of the civil war.

A SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUST.

TREES AFTER BEING ATTACKED BY LOCUSTS