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STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



THE OATS THRIPS. 



{Anaphothrips striatus.) 



Early in June disquieting reports commenced to come in, relative 

 to the condition of the oats crop. The weather had been dry and 

 pretty warm for a short time previous, although the cold, wet spring 



had made everything weeks late. How- 

 ever, to return to the condition of the 

 oats, which were for the most part as 

 yet unheaded, the alanning symptoms 

 showed themselves in the reddening of 

 the foliage and in the general sickly 

 appearance of the plants. At first, rust 

 was suspected, but the characteristic 

 pustules of this disease were not to be 

 found. A closer examination of some 

 of the leaves showed that the much 

 affected surfaces had been scraped by 

 some feeble agent, some patches showing 

 freshly scraped smrfaces of small size. 

 In others the surfaces had become white, 

 reminding one of a slate pencil mark. 

 In patches of greater age, these sur- 

 faces became reddish and finally the 

 dying cells blackened and died, produc- 

 ing dead black surfaces. Such leaves 

 also commenced to turn purple as a 

 whole. A glance at such a leaf, with the 

 aid of a strong magnifying lens, usually 



revealed the cause of the difficulty in the form of a tiny insect called a 



thrips. These little creatures are very small indeed, measuring only 



about one-twentieth of an inch in length, 



slender and of a yellow and brownish color. 

 The trouble seemed to spring up suddenly 



and without warning, all over the state, from 



the copper country on the north to Indiana 



and Ohio on the south. The writer saw it 



as far north as Alger county and received 



specimens from still farther north. In travel- 

 ling over the state in any direction, one saw 



the effects of the depredations of this creature 



in all directions and at that time, viz., the 



part of June, the outlook was more than dis- 

 couraging. 



The oats that were least advanced suffered 



the most, those which had commenced to head 



out managing to withstand the attacks more 



successfully. 



The writer was considerably at a loss to 



know just what the outcome would be unless Fig. 2.— immature Thrips, greatly 



we had rain. It is well known that thrips do enlarged. 



Fig. 1. — Adult Thrips, greatly enlarged. 

 Original. 



