210 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



July 9, 1S31 



feren't periods, since its first settlement, viz : 

 in the year 1790; again in 1812; and now 

 in 1829. With us they have commenced 

 their ascent from the earth the last of May 

 ind first of June; and disappear the begin- 

 ning of July, two or three days earlier or 

 later according to the temperature of the 

 season 



Tile, month of May this season was very 

 warm, ■»«« the cicada; made their appear- 

 ance rather earlier than heretofore. By the 

 ijth of this month they had risen so near 

 'o the surface of the earth, that the depth of 

 a common furrow in ploughing,turned them 

 out in their chrysaloid state. By the 24th 

 I hey had begun to arise from the earth, burst 

 their transparent covering and expand their 

 wings. From this time to the 10th of June. 

 their numbers daily increased, until wood- 

 lands and orchards were filled with countless 

 multitudes. A continual singing or scream 

 was kept up by the males, from sunrise till 

 evening, and so loud that in a calm morning 

 nie sound was heard a full mile. For this 

 mirpose the male is furnished with an air 

 bladder under the axillae, of a pale blue co- 

 lor ; the females make no noise. They ap- 

 peared only in situations which were cover- 

 ed with trees, as was the fact when they were 

 here in 1812 ; thereby proving that they had 

 not wandered far in their journey of seven- 

 teen years. The earth was perforated like 

 i riddle, with holes about a third of an inch 

 i! diameter. In an orchard in this town, I 

 counted twenty-five holes on a foot square, 

 and an intelligent acquaintance told me that 

 mi his neighborhood, he had seen more than 

 louble that number in the same space. — 

 Where trees were not near each other, the 

 ground underneath them was covered with 

 their skins or cast oft' robes, to the depth of 

 two or three inches. These shells retain the 

 exact figure of the insect when it leaves the 

 earth, with a rent on the back, through which 

 the cicada creeps as from a coat of mail — 

 and are firmly fastened by the feet to the 

 bark and twigs of trees and bushes, until 

 they are thrown down by the Windsor rain. 

 Instinct leading them to seek the nearest 

 • ree, bush or post, as soon as they leave 

 the earth; here they remain until they 

 nave left their shells for some hours, or until 

 their wings are dry and sufficiently strong 

 for (lying. There appeared to be two varie- 

 ties of the cicada, one much smaller than 

 the other : there was also a striking differ- 

 ence in their notes. The smaller variety 

 were more common in the bottom lands, and 

 the larger in the hills. A continual scream 

 <vas kept up by the males during the day, but 

 hey were silent through the night. Their 

 flight was short, seldom exceeding eight or 

 ■en rods, and their whole lives appeared to 

 be spent near the place of their nativity. I 

 could not discover that they made use of any 

 food; they certainly eat no leaves of trees 

 ir plants, as they are not furnished with 

 jaws or teeth. They have a hard and sharp 

 proboscis,about two lines in length, which is 

 generally compressed close to the thorax: 

 this I have seen inserted in the smooth bark 

 of young trees, and when driven from the 

 spot, a drop of juice issued from the punc- 

 ture : they would also, when disturbed, throw- 

 out a small jet of thin watery liquid, as if 

 in self defence. From their being unprovi 

 ded with organs for eating, it would seem 

 .hat their whole business during their short 

 visit to the surface of the earth, was to pro 

 oagate their species and to die. While hero 



they served for food for all the carnivorous 

 and insect-eating animals. Hogs eat them 

 in preference to any other food ; squirrels, 

 birds, domestic fowls, Sic. fattened on them. 

 So much were they attracted by the cicadae, 

 that very few birds were seen around our 

 gardens during their continuance, and our 

 cherries, Sic. remained unmolested. By 

 the fourth or fifth day after their leaving the 

 earth, the female began to depost her eggs in 

 the tender branches of most kinds of orchard 

 and forest trees. She generally selected the 

 wood of last year's growth, and commenced 

 her task on the under side of the twig, by 

 slitting the bark with her puncturing instru- 

 ment, which embraced the properties both 

 of a saw and a punch; the point being lan- 

 cet-shaped and serrated, and then making 

 a hole in an oblique direction to the pith of 

 the branch, she withdrew the instrument a 

 little way, and deposited an egg through a 

 tube in the punch. This was repeated until 

 from ten to twenty eggs were deposited on 

 each side of the centre of the pith, the cen- 

 tre wood having been previously comminu- 

 ted and cut up so as to make a soft bed for 

 the eggs, and to afford food for the embryo 

 until it hatched. There was daily an evi- 

 dent increase in the size of the eggs until 

 they were hatched, and an evident dimi- 

 nution of the comminuted woody fibres and 

 enlargement of the cells containing the eggs, 

 so that they must have derived some suste- 

 nance from the juices of the twig. Anoth- 

 er proof that they did so was, that the eggs 

 invariably perished in those branches which 

 withered and dried up soon after the punc- 

 tures were made. This work continued 

 from day to day, until the female had ex- 

 pended her stock of eggs, which, so far as I 

 could ascertain. amounted to about one thou- 

 sand. When this operation was completed, 

 the object of her existence seemed to be ful- 

 filled, and in a few days she dwindled away 

 and died. The whole period of the life of a 

 single individual, from her leaving the earth 

 to her death, averaged from twenty to twenty- 

 five days. The life of the male continued 

 for nearly the same time. When the cicadas 

 first leave the earth they are plump and full 

 of oily juices, so much so that they were 

 made use of in the manufacture of soap ; 

 but before their death they were dried up to 

 mere shells; and I have seen them still able 

 to fly a few feet, after one half of the body 

 was wasted away, and nothing remained but 

 the head, wings and thorax. From the time 

 the eggs were doposited to the period of 

 hatching, was, as nearly as could be ascer- 

 tained, sixty days, and almost daily atten- 

 tion was given to the subject. When first 

 placed in the twigs, the eggs are about the 

 sixteenth of an inch in length, and the thick- 

 ness of a coarse hair, appearing through a 

 small magnifying glass of the shape and 

 size of a grain of rye ; at the period of hatch- 

 ing, they had increased about one-third in 

 size. They are white and transparent, with 

 a black spot on the larger end, just before 

 hatching. They are placed very closely by 

 the side of each other, in an oblique direc- 

 tion to the line of the twig; several portions 

 of the branch of an apple tree, full of the 

 eggs ready to hatch, were placed on a bowl 

 of earth, with a glass tumbler inverted over 

 them, in the afternoon ; by morning nearly 

 a hundred young cicada were found in the 

 earth, and a few on the surface, which had 

 just left their woody cells. They were about 

 a twelfth of an inch in length, with the ex- 



act shape, color and appearance of the pa- 

 rent when she first comes to the air, and be- 

 fore bursting the transparent shell which co- 

 vered her while in her terrene abode. From 

 the fact, that the young ones immediately 

 seek a retreat in the earth, I am led to be- 

 lieve that these insects are tenants of the 

 ground for seventeen years, and until He 

 who created them again calls them forth tc 

 propagate their kind, to fulfil their destiny, 

 and die. As to their extent, so far as I can 

 ascertain, they covered the woody regions 

 from beyond the shores of the Mississippi, to 

 the heads of the Ohio river ; embracing the 

 States of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana,? Ohio, 

 and the western parts of Pennsylvania. — 

 Whether they appeared in Kentucky anci 

 Tennessee, I have not yet learned. 

 Marklla,(Ohio) Wth Dtc. 1829. 



HAY-MAKING. 



As the season has arrived for the commence- 

 ment of this operation which has associated with 

 it an idea of rural pleasure and merriment, which 

 probably has descended to us from the land of 

 our fathers, where the custom still prevails of em- 

 ploying die young of both sexes in the same field ; 

 and as youth is the time for merriment, it is but 

 natural to suppose that their labor is rather pleas- 

 ant than otherwise. As this is an important bu- 

 siness, a few directions to young farmers may be 

 well, although many may think that business with 

 which they have been so familiar from their child- 

 hood, cannot be much improved. We are not 

 aware that any very important improvements 

 have beeri made of late years hi this part of hus- 

 bandry. Perhaps the greatest improvement that' 

 has recently been introduced, as appertaining to 

 II hay making.is the horse-rake, which certainly is a 

 I ; labor-saving machine, worthy the notice of every 

 J ! farmer. Its greatest advantages are in smooth 

 I meadows, where the surface has been freed from 

 ! stumps and stones, and where due regard has been 

 paid to prevent any little inequalities of surface. 

 In such meadows one man and boy and horse will 

 rake as much hay in a given time, as six men 

 would in die common manner. Thus to expedite 

 | business at times is of importance, as in this part 

 j of the country the tune for hay-making and har- 

 ! vesting, are much the same, and not unfrequently 

 the one or the other suffer for want of a .-sufficient 

 number of labourers to perform each in due sea- 

 son. A description of the horse-rake, we believe, 

 will not be necessary, as they are more or less 

 known in every district, and have been frequent- 

 ly given in plates, in agricultural works, so that 

 almost every mechanic who makes odier farm- 

 ing instruments, is capable of furnishing these 

 also. 



They are cheap, simple and usefid. There 

 are different opinions in regard to the proper time 

 for cutting the different grasses intended for hay. 

 Timothy or Herd's grass we consider one of 

 the most profitable grasses for this latitude, and 

 the time of cutting it is of more importance than 

 is generally acknowledged by farmers. It is a 

 very common practice to cut this grass when it 

 is in ftill blossom, but this we consider bad policy 

 We believe a few experiments will convince ev- 

 ery former that it is better in every respect to al- 

 low it to stand before cutting, until the seeds art 

 nearly or quite their full size, when to cut it does 

 not require so much sun to make the hay, nor a? 

 rrrttch labor bestowed upon it ; and it will be found 



