64 PRIZE ESSAY : 



of Western New York, withstands the attack of the fly better 

 than any of the other kinds there in use.' 



109. Mr. Rawson Harmon, in a report of experiments on the 

 Yarieties of wheat cultivated in the State of New York, and to 

 whom a premium for the experiments was awarded by the N.Y. 

 S. Agricultural Society, says that the white flint variety has with- 

 stood the Hessian fly better than any other i>ow cultivated. The 

 solidity of the straw at the root gives the fly less chance of de^ 

 stroying it. " Some of the stalks of this variety will be so eaten (?) 

 as to fall down, yet mature the herry ; while in other varieties, 

 after it has fallen from the injury of the fly, the greater part of 

 it fails to mature." (1) 



1 10. Mr, H. G. Stew^art, af Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, re- 

 ports that the variety of winter wheat called the ' Mediterranean* 

 is the only kind known there whidi escapes the attacks of the 

 Hessia.n fly. At the same time, Mr. Stewart reminds us of the 

 very important peculiarity of rapid deterioration which is fre- 

 quently observed in change of climates. The Mediterran-ean 

 wheat does not ripen in Iowa so soon, by ten days, as ii did^ye- 

 years ago, and is consequently more liable to rust, and the at- 

 tacks of ath^r wheat pests. (-) The white blue-stem is also fast 

 deteriorating in the State of Pennsylvania. "Our crops this 

 year fall below 10 bushels to the acre."(^) 



111. Certain varieties of wheat possess the pro}>ei'ty of ' tiller- 

 ing' to a much greatjer extent than others under the same ox 

 similar conditions. It is evident that this power of throwing out 

 fresh stalks is one of great importance in resisting the autumn 

 attacks of the Hessian fly. Certain stems ai'e sacrificed to its 

 ravages, these are replaced by others which shoot out after the 



(1) Transactions of the N.Y.S.A. Society. Page 218, 131&. 

 (■2) Patent Office Report, 1864. Agricultui-e- 

 (3) Ibid. Page 147. 



