Orchard trees 1 or 2 years old may be protected by covering them with open-weave cloth, such as heavy cheese-cloth, netting, tobacco shade cloth, or the cloth used to cover tobacco seed-beds in the South. The cloth should be put in place as the cicadas begin to appear and should remain until, about 5 weeks later, most of them are gone. Many growers refrain from planting orchards in a cicada year, or in the preceding year. Before postponing the planting of trees, they should consider cloth protection. The cost may be less than the loss represented by 1 or 2 years of delay in the development of a new orchard. If little or no pruning is done to large trees the winter preceding an infestation, much of the injured wood can be pruned away the following winter. In residential areas where the cicadas have previously been abundant, it is advisable not to plant young shrubs or trees around the home the year another emergence is expected. Natural Enemies Birds destroy many cicadas. Where cicadas are numerous and birds rather few, as in dense woods, cicadas are not materially reduced. Where the situation is reversed, as in small, open groves, or near houses, cicadas may be greatly reduced by birds. Insects and mites attack cicada eggs, and a fungus disease kills some adults. Prepared by Entomology Research Division, Agricultural Research Service Washington, D.C. Issued May 1953 Slightly revised May 1960 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1960 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D.C. - Price 5 cents * * * * * Transcriber Notes All illustrations were moved so as to not split paragraphs. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Periodical Cicada, by United States Department of Agriculture