174 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



the pupal condition takes place inside the bfown hardened skin of the flax-seed-like 

 pupa-case a short time before the fly emerges. 



Remedies. — The remedies most relied on are : (I.) Late sowing. The postpone- 

 ment of seeding until after the third week in September delays the appearance of the 

 young plants above the ground until all the Hessian Flies of the second brood are 

 dead. (II.) Burning refuse. As a large proportion of the " flax seeds " are 

 cairied with the straw and at threshing are dislodged and thrown down beneath 

 the machine among the rubbish and broken straw, it is of great importance to 

 destroy all rubbish or screenings wherever it is known that grain has been infested. 

 (III.) Treatment of stubble. As soon as the crop is cut, a harrow should be run over 

 the field so as to start a volunteer crop from the grains which have dropped in harvest- 

 ing. By the time the fields will require to be ploughed, many flies of the August 

 brood will have emerged and laid their eggs on these plants. The eggs will thus be 

 destroyed at the same time as many seedlings of weeds, when the land is ploughed in the 

 autumn. If fields are conveniently situated away from barns, houses and stacks, much 

 good may be done by burning over the stubbles before ploughing, for the pupse occur, as 

 a rule, at the first and second lowest joints of the stem. To facilitate burning, a little 

 dry straw may be scattered lightly over the stubble. Should the Hessian Fly ever 

 develop as a serious enemy of wheat in Manitoba and the West, where fall wheat is not 

 grown, burning over and ploughing down of stubbles immediately the crop is cut, will 

 be the best remedies. (IV.) When it is found that a young crop of fall wheat has been 

 injured by the Hessian Fly, it is a good plan to apply the following spring a light*'dress- 

 ing of some quick-acting special fertilizer. 



The worst attacks by the Hessian Fly which have come under my notice this year 

 have been in Prince Edward Island, and in the province of Ontario in the counties lying 

 between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron. References to injuries by the Hessian Fly 

 in the province of Manitoba were, as far as I could learn, erroneous, although this 

 insect may at some time be expected to appear there also as an injurious species, for 

 Prof. Otto Lugger finds it in Minnesota, in the Red River valley, where the conditions 

 are similar to those of a large part of Manitoba, he says: " A large area is infested, especi- 

 ally the v/estern part of Central Minnesota from Brown's Valley to the Mississippi 

 River at St. Cloud. Further north and south the fly is found in lesser numbers, and 

 only a few occur in the northern part of the Red River valley and along the Iowa State 

 Jine. The damages in some places amounted to more than 25 per cent, in others to 5 

 per cent and less, but on an average our farmers lost from 5 to 10 per cent of their en- 

 tire wheat crop." (Otto Lugger, 2nd Ann. RpL, 1896.) 



" Pleasant Grove, P.E.I., Sept. 9 : — I send you two samples of infested straw, one 

 from my own field and the other from my neighbour's, which fell down badly this year. 

 There were only a few plants in my field which fell down this season. Since learning 

 from your reports the history of these pests, I have grown good crops of wheat by sow- 

 ing late and dressing the land with a coat of good manure. My crop this year is a good 

 one, the straw is as yellow as gold and almost free from rust." — [Edward Wyatt.] 



Mr. Wyatt kindly supplied me with several samples of infested wheat straws and 

 also with many stems of grasses from a field which had been badly attacked by Hessian 

 Fly. Among these it may be mentioned that two stems of Timothy grass (F/deum 

 2)ratense, L.) contained undoubted puparia of the Hessian fly. This was a matter of con- 

 siderable interest to me because from the statement made in Miss Ormerod's well-known 

 Manual of Injurious Insects I have frequently endeavoured to find traces of the Hessian 

 Fly in any of the wild grasses. The statement referred to (quoted from Dr. C Lindemann, 

 of Moscow, Russia) is as follows : " Two kinds of wild grasses subject to the attacks of 

 Hessian Fly are Timothy grass and Couch grass. In 1887 the first named of these was 

 found to be severely attacked in the Russian Government of Tambov, and Couch grass 

 was attacked in the Government of Tambov and also of Woronetz ; Couch grass was so 

 severely attacked that in whole districts covered with this grass, it was destroyed." 

 This statement is of interest because of its possible bearing on the question of the 

 original home of the Hessian Fly, A species which attacked a wild grass so severely as 



