MKANS ACIAINST CICADA IN CNDKHC; ROC N I ) LIKK. 145 
lizors, wliicli will <ri\c tho j)lanl a inoiv vii^^orous t^rowth, Avill hasten 
tho lioaliiiij: process. With younti: tires the worst all'eeted branches 
slioiiid he rcMnoved, and tlie hvss injnr(>d oiuvs |)i-()lected IVoiii other 
insects while they are liealins^ by coatinjz; the wounded j)arts with 
t^raftinij: wax or a nioderatcdy liard soap. Tlu^se protective coverin«z;s 
should he r(Mi(^w(Ml at h^ist onc(^ a year, j)rer(M-ahly in the spiini!;, until 
the wounds are entirely healcMl over. In the cas(» of a badly injured 
trcM^ that has been nu'cMitly ])udded or <2:rafted, it may be well to cut 
it l)ack nearly to the ])ud or ^raft, so that an entirely new top may 
be ma(l(\ 
MEANS ACIAINST THE CICADA IN ITS UNDERGROUND LIFE. 
While it is probably true, as w^e have already stated, that the Cicada 
in its underground life does not work any serious injury to plants on 
account of the very insignificant amount of nutriment which it annu- 
ally draws from the rootlets, nevertheless in exceptional cases, where 
the ground is suspected of being very thickly populated with the larva? 
and pupa^ of this insect, it may l)e deemed desirable to undertake their 
extermination. This may be accomplished, as suggested, by using the 
remedies ordinarily employed against other subterranean insects, such 
as the Phylloxera and the apple root-aphis, with this difference, that 
the poisons w*ill have to be introduced more deeply into the soil 
unless applied in the first or second year after the larvse have begun 
their development. 
If taken in time, the number of the larvse in the soil may be greatly 
reduced by cutting off the branches of the trees wdiich have been 
thickly oviposited in, thus preventing the hatching of the eggs. It 
will rareh', however, be possible to so completely eliminate the eggs 
from the tree as to prevent the entrance of the larva) into the soil in 
considerable numbers. 
Of the means employed against subterranean insects two are espe- 
cially suitable for the destruction of the larvse and pupse of the 
Cicada — namely, bisulphid of carbon injected into the ground and 
tobacco dust incorporated in the soil. 
Tobacco dust has a manurial value and is not at all injurious to 
plants. Its value against Cicada larvse is purely theoretical, but there 
is little doubt but that if it can be incorporated in the soil some dis- 
tance below^ the surface — namely, by first removing 6 inches or more of 
the tcrp soil — it will effect the destruction of many of the delicate larvse 
and pupse of the cicadas. This dust is a waste product of tobacco 
factories and costs about 1 cent per pound, and is worth nearl}^ its cost 
as a fertilizer. 
Bisulphid of carbon, the popular French remedy for the grape root- 
aphis, will undoubtedly prove an efficient means against the Cicada in 
31117— No. 71—07 10 
