1900 ] ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 63 



satisfactory results are recognized to be particularly well suited for the cultivation of this 

 cereal. 



Many experiments by agriculturists hive shown that better crops are reaped if 

 the seed is sown early, that is, about the Ist of September. This, however, is only true in 

 such yeirs as the Hessian Fly is not prevalent. Therefore, it is decidedly advisable for 

 growt^rs of fall wheat to remember in such periods as the Hessian Fly is abundant, what 

 the life-history of this insect is, and, instead of trying to sow their lall wheit seed by the 

 Ist of September, delay this operation until after the 20th, being content to get a slightly 

 smaller yield and to be sure of it, than, in the ffiort to get a bigger crop, perhaps run the 

 risk of losing h*lf or even the whole from the attacks of the Hessian Fly. By postpon- 

 ing seeding until the end of September, the appearance of the young plants above the 

 ground is delayed until after the egg-laying flies of the second brood are dead. Where 

 fall wheat has been sown in August and is already well up, it is considered advisable 

 when the Hessian Fly is known to be prevalent to feed off a good deal of the green top 

 with sheep during the month of September, in which manner it is claimed that many of 

 the eggs are destroyed. Care must be taken that the finlds are not cropped too closely 

 mor too late in the season. Late sowing therefore m>iy be claimed to be the most import- 

 ant preventive remedy against the Hessian Fly. There are, however, other methods of 

 reducing the numbers of this insect, among the more important of which are the troat- 

 m^-nt of stubble and the burning of refuse. The treatment of stubble is of most use in 

 such districts as Manitoba, where there is only one brood of the Hessian Fly, which is re- 

 stricted to spring-sown grain. In 1899 the Hessian Fiy appeared for the first time in 

 Manitoba, where no fall wheat i< grown, and did an enormous amount of harm. Fortu- 

 nately, this year there is no recurrence of this attack. The insect passes the winter in 

 Manitoba, for the most part, in the stubble, although some of the pu jaria are carried from 

 the field with the straw. Therefore, if stubbles be burnt over or ploughed down dt-eply in 

 autumn and the straw is fed to stock or burnt at any time before the flies emerge in 

 spring, there being no autumn brood, this peat should not be difficult to control. The 

 burning of refuse which is thrown down beneath the threshing machine, will also dispose 

 of m iny flix-seeds of the summer brood which did not emerge in the autumn and were 

 carried in the straw. If this refuse were not destroyed, these would give forth their flies 

 the following spring. 



In cases where fields are found to be infested with Hessian Fly, it is sometimes diffi- 

 cult to decide what a farmer's wisest course is. If the infestation id only light, it is 

 sometimes possible to stimulate the crop by the use of a light application of some quick 

 acting fertilizer. Where, as is generally the case, there are patches in the field which 

 have been destroyed, it is desirable to save such parts of the field as are uninjured. 

 These pitches can be sown in spring to some crop which will not require caltivatioa, e.g. 

 an early ripening barley, which can be cut at the same time as the fall wheit and the 

 whole threshed as mixed feed If, however, it is necessary to save the wheat separately, 

 peas may be sown on these patches, which can either be cut after the wheat, or the grain 

 can be aeparat^d after threshing. In cises of bad infestation it would sometimes pay 

 better to use the land at once for some other crop. 



The usual practice of simply cultivating deeply so as to produce a good se«^d bed is 

 an improper one, because the flix seeds are present and, if the land is only c dtivatef^, the 

 flies will emerge in spring and prove a source of infestation to the uainjarei remainder 

 of the wheat crop and also to any spring wheat or b»rley whic^ mif be s»wn neirby. 

 Infested areas should be ploughed down deeply so that the flies when they emerge 

 from the fl*x seeds shall be unable to work their way oat Th-in any crop 

 may be ' sown except spring wheat. Birley and rye are also sometimes liable 

 to attack ; consequently, other crops are preferable to these, such as o^ts, p las, orn 

 or roots There will sometimes b^ cases where the farmer is uncertain what ic is best to 

 do, owing to the occurence of uninjured p-ttches in an otherwise badly iufrjsted fieli. In 

 the-!e cises it will be best to wiic and see how the whiat wdl turn out. If at last some- 

 thing else has to be substituted as a crop, probibly the best returns will be obtained by 

 sovins^ early ripening corn whe'-e a calci^^a-or cio. ba u<ed, or early p-as where the 

 patches are surrounded by wheat. Both of these crjps may be sown as U.e even as the 

 middle of Jane and will give gojd resilts. Mr. N, H. Ojwiry, a vary caref al ooserver, 



