[135] Report of the State Entomologist. 271 



" Offering to him my assistance in the interesting experiment, he has 

 sent to me a quantity of apple twigs from Mississippi, filled with the 

 eggs of the thirteen-year Cicada, with the request that I would place 

 them in an orchard where the result of the experiment could be 

 observed at the proper time, and that I would also have proper record 

 made of the same. 



" I, therefore, ask place in some publication of the institute, for the 

 statement that the orchard of Mr. Erastus Corning, at Kenwood, was 

 selected for the planting of the eggs, from the considerations that it 

 was a young orchard, that it promised permanency for the desired 

 time, and that no other brood of Cicada would occur there with which 

 this could be confounded. The tree beneath which the eggs were 

 placed (they were hatching at the time, and the twigs containing 

 them set about the base of the tree, and tied to its lower branches) 

 was marked with a zinc label, bearing this inscription: 



" ' Thirteen-year brood of Cicada {Riley's Brood, No. VII) — eggs from 

 Oxford, Mississippi, planted July 4, 1885.' 



" Additional eggs from a second sending were placed beneath the 

 same tree on July twenty-first, and also some in a wood adjoining, a 

 few rods toward the south, to serve as a food-supply in the event of 

 the death or destruction of the orchard. 



" As I may hardly hope to see the result of this experiment, may I 

 beg of some of the members of the Institute who are interested in 

 Natural History, that in the month of June, 1898, they will make exam- 

 ination of the labeled tree and trees adjoining, for the pupa cases of 

 the Cicada that should be found upon the trunks, if still obedient to 

 their thirteen-year period, and for the insects in the vicinity, which 

 should easily be discovered, if present, by their well-known song, 

 which would readily reach the ear. Should they fail to appear at the 

 time designated, then the search for them should be renewed the 

 following year, and, if need be, for successive two or three years, 

 until their appearance. 



"The result of the observations should be communicated to the 

 Entomological Division of the Department of Agriculture at Wash- 

 ington, unless it should be known that full examination had already 

 been made by an agent delegated for the purpose from the department. 



"In the planting of the eggs I was assisted by Mr. William Grey, 

 gardener of Mr. Erastus Corning, who has been requested to com- 

 municate to others upon the farm the location of the tree in order 

 that there may be no difficulty in finding the locality at the desired time. 



" In addition to the above, other transfers of the eggs of the thirteen- 

 year Cicada from Mississippi, have been made, to Ithaca, N. Y.; 



