February, '16] PARKER: WESTERN wheat aphis 187 



unteer grains and grasses and are said to give increased yields over 

 once-plowed fields. No wheat aphis injury has ever been seen on 

 double-plowed fields. 



Late plowed fields can undoubtedly be kept free from vegetation 

 with much less labor than early plowed fields and this practice, when 

 it can be carried on without interfering with economic farm practices, 

 is recommended in districts where the wheat aphis is abundant. 



Pasturing. — Some farmers allow a small band of sheep or other 

 stock to graze on summer fallowed land and where vegetation is kept 

 down in this manner wheat aphis injury has not been noticed. 



In November of the present year, an 80-acre field of winter wheat 

 was seen which was so badly infested with wheat aphis that there 

 seemed to be absolutely no hope of the crop maturing if left as it was. 

 The field was everywhere dotted with clumps of volunteer wheat, 

 from which females were migrating to the new crop, and already 

 nearly every young wheat plant was infested with egg-laying females. 

 A band of 1,500 sheep was turned into this field and in a short time 

 had grazed off nearly all vegetation. Whether a new growth will 

 be produced that will be free from wheat aphis remains to be seen, 

 but it is certain that a great majority of the plant lice and their eggs 

 have been destroyed and this method gives some promise in the 

 handling of fields that are already badly infested. 



Crops that May Be Sown on Ground Where Grain Has Been 

 Destroyed by the Wheat Aphis. — Wheat aphis injury generally 

 appears early enough in the spring so that destroyed areas may be 

 seeded to spring grains or other crops. 



Spring wheat may be safely planted if infested wheat plants are 

 first plowed under. This was tried in several fields during the past 

 season and in no instance was the spring crop injured. Spring wheat 

 and barley drilled in among infested plants have been badly injured 

 and this practice is considered decidedly unsafe. 



I Probably the safest and easiest crop to put in on such land is oats 

 upon which the wheat aphis has never been seen to feed. One grower 

 whose 80-acre field of fall wheat was completely infested with aphis 

 in the spring merely drilled in oats without previous preparation of the 

 soil. The young oats grew side by side with the heavily infested wheat, 

 but were never attacked and at harvest the crop yielded 50 bushels 

 to the acre. By early summer all of the wheat in the field had been 

 killed. 



This concluded the reading of papers for the meeting and after the 

 usual closing business session the meeting adjourned. 



A. F. Burgess, Secretary. 



