New Zealand Department of Agriculture.

Manawatu Herald, 22 September 1898, Page 3

New Zealand Department of Agriculture.

- JOHN 0. BITCHIE, Seoretary. "H * ..£; LEAFLETS FOR FARMERS; Na 26, 4 By T. W, Kirk, F.L.S., Lond., &c, Government Biologist. Cicada (Cicada cingulata), and Other Species.

Many years ago, in a short; paper read before the Wellington Gardeners' Mutual Improvement Sooiety (published in the local papers), and again in 1690 in remarks before the Philosophical Society, I dw-w attention to th« destructive habits of cicada. This inseot is correctly known as the cicada. Bo.metime9, ihough erroneously, the name •• singing locust "is applipd. It is not a loc&st, nor does it in the least resemble on?. This constant misapplication of common names frequently causes much confusion. It ia hardly ntoospary to give descriptions hf-iv, but should any reader desire to consult detailed technical descriptions be is referred t.) papne-j by Mr G. V. Hudson in tho Trans actions of the Nfw Zpaland Institute* Vol. xxiii., p. 49. and the discussions thereon, p. 604. Vol. xxv., p. 162; a.so by W. F. Kirby, Vol. xxviii., p. 454. The damage dona by cicada to, orchard and ornamental trees is each year becoming more pronounced. A Juw day3 after emerging from the pupa state ths female commences to lay. Making a longitudinal slit in the bark of the tree, she proceeds to saw a number of V shaped cuts in the soft wood. r lht3 raises the fihi-PR, and pre>ypnt.s the bark

from healing. She then deposit-? her eggs, in pairs in each V-shap&d wound. The total laying sometime* amounts to hundreds. The female then dies, the .eggs hatch, and the young' grubs d.oj to the ground and undergo the various transformations till ready to «morge into the pertact inseot, when the cycle again comuienceß. The cicada prefers manuka, but nothing onm.es amis*, the young shoots of orchard trees fre quently suffer considerably ; the damaged branch, if rnt killed,, is generally brok v <ff hy the wind, especially whyp the fruit begin-? to swell. Daring the larval stage they feed on the root? of various plants. Where these insects are troublesome, spraying the treea with tarwater, as urged in my leanVta on cabbage tnoth and cineraria-fly, has been found a di?ferreut. Tar-water is prepared aa follows : Boil £lb of gas-far in 1 gallon of water for twenty minutes, and while boiling hard tip the contents of the boiler inio a vessel containing 60 gallons of cold water. Stir thoroughly, then spray the trees. Mo;>t insects dislike , thfi smell of tar, and will get away if poasiblf. This has proved effectual in protecting chrysanthemums, cinerarias, &c, from the leaf-miner, and cnbbnge3 from the diamond backed mnf.b.