1G3 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



by the line, taking pains to make the rows straight. Cultivate the land just 

 before sowing the seeds. Never wait for the weeds ; if you do., they are sure to 

 get the start, hut rake or run a hand cultivator between the rows as often as 

 every four to seven days. Many crops may be sown far enough apart to admit 

 of culture by horse. But little time will he required just before or after the 

 day's work in the corn-field or other work. Do not think it lost time. Plants 

 well cared for will thrive. The garden will look well, yield abundantly, be a 

 source of profit and delight to the whole family. Xo part of the farm will pay 

 so well in good living, in dollars and cents, as a well tilled garden. Keep ahead 

 of the Aveeds, — cultivate with the horse, the hand rake, or hand weeder. 



More thought and care by parents in reference to this subject will aid in mak- 

 ing home more attractive, and it will he a strong tie to keep the sons and daugh- 

 ters at rural pursuits. 



FORENOOX SESSION. 



Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Agricultural College, was called upon, who read the- 

 following paper on 



BOT-FLIES IX THE HORSE, COW, AXD SHEEP. 



Bot-Flies. 



The insects which form the subject of this lecture belong to the great sub- 

 order Diptera, or two-winged flies, which are but too familiar to you all in our 

 mosquitoes, house-flies, blow-flies, horse-flies, cheese-flies ; and the still more 

 dreaded Hessian fly, wheat midge, and cabbage, onion, and radish flies. 



Characters of Diptera. 



As the name indicates, these insects usually possess two wings, undergo com- 

 plete transformations, that is, the three forms, larva or maggot, ])upa, and imago 

 or mature fly, are so different that no one not versed in insect life could ever 

 dream that they sustained the relationship of child to parent. The mouth parts, 

 too, are peculiar in that the upper and lower lips, called labrum and labium, 

 resj)ectively, and first and second j^airs of jaws, tecimically known as mandibles 

 and maxilla?, are all more or less awl-sliaped, and when united form a sharp 

 sucking tube. For additional testimony on this poiiit I would refer you to 

 gnats, mosquitoes, horse-flies, etc. In many flies tlie lower lip ends in a fleshy 

 hemispherical pad, which, under the microscope, is really a thing of great beauty- 

 The house-fly and blow-fly furnish illustrations. 



No Structural Features among Organisms Necessarily Persistent. 



I have said that the Diptera possesses two wings, and though usually true, yet,, 

 as in all other sub-orders, so here we find apterous or wingless forms. Fleas, 

 sheep, bird, and bat ticks, and bee lice are examples. Though Avingless, other 

 structural features pronounce them unmistakable Diptera. 



Sometimes, as in the very forms with which we are to-day especially inter- 

 ested, — the bot-flies, — the mouth parts are partially or wholly aborted. Yet the 

 two wings, with other characters, show that they are Dipterous insects. 



