Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1919 — When the “17-Year-Locusts” Come. [ARTICLE]

When the “17-Year-Locusts” Come.

The year 1919 is likely to be one of the •worst “locust years” on record. But entomologists of the United States department of agriculture see nothing alarming in the prospect. The periodical cicada, the real name of the insect commonly called “locust," will appear this year in the following states: Alabama, District of. Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, lowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. . The injury done by the periodical cicada consists almost wholly in chiseling grooves in the branches of trees for depositing eggs. This injury always appears to be greater than it actually Is. Popular alarm is usually out of proportion to general damage. Young fruit trees are sometimes killed by the cicada. The precautionary measures are: Deter putting out young fruit trees till next year ; postpone 'budding operations; do no pruning this winter op spring. When the insects begin coming out, hand pick them from young fruit 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.