200 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



64 VICTORIA, A. 1901 



Attach.— In autumn a few small whitish maggots, oval in shape, generally show- 

 ing a green stripe in the centre, may be found in the root shoots of fall wheat. Later 

 these harden and turn brown, when they resemble sniall flax 

 seeds. During May and June of the following spring, the 

 so-called Hessian Flies, small blackish midges, with smoky 

 wings and about i inch long, appear and fly to the fields of 

 growing wheat, where they lay minute red- 

 dish eggs, sing^ly or in small clusters, on 

 the upper sides of the leaves. The young 

 maggots, after hatching, work their way 

 down inside the sheaths of the leaves and 

 feed at the bases of the joints. The pre- 

 sence of the puparia, or flax seeds, can 

 usually be detected by the breaking down 

 of the stem at the point where these occur, 

 owing to the weakening of the stem by the 



attacks of the maggots. The flies from this summer brood 

 appear in September and lay their eggs upon the leaves of 

 the young fall wheat. This is called the autumn brood, and 

 is the one which has done so much harm this year. 



Fig. 3. — HessIaD Fly: 

 puparia — natural size 

 and enlarged. 



Fig. 2. — Hessian Fly; 

 injured wheat-stem; 

 three puparia e n - 

 larged. 



Remedies. — 1. Late Sowing. — The most important preventive remedy against 

 injury by the Hessian Fly is the postponement of seeding until the end of September. 

 By this means the appearance of the young plants above the grotmd is delayed until 

 after the egg-laying flies of the second brood are dead. Where fall wheat has been 

 sown in August, as is frequently done, the plants are well up and ready to receive the 

 eggs of the flies when they emerge from the flax seeds of the summer brood. It is 

 sometimes advised to feed off the green tops to a certain extent with sheep during the 

 months of September and October, in whicli way it is claimed that many of the eggs 

 are destroyed. I have never been able to prove that there is any advantage in this 

 method other than giving a supply of good fodder at a time of the year when this is 

 sometimes short. The chief objection to sowing so late as the end of September is 

 that, as a rule, the plants have not time to make vigorous roots and tops so as to with- 

 stand the cold of severe winters. This, however, is seldom true, and in a great num- 

 ber of experiments, even at Ottawa, I have frequently found that good crops can be 

 obtained from wheat sown much after the first of October, and while the Hessian Fly 

 is abundant I believe that it is the very best policy for farmers to sow their fall 

 wheat rather by the first of October than by the first of September, for although they 

 may get a slightly smaller yield, it is better for them to be content with this and to 

 be sure of it, than, in the effort to get a bigger crop, perhaps run the risk of losing 

 half or even more from the attacks of the Hessian Fly. On this question of the 

 proper time to sow fall wheat, the following from Prof. F. M. Webster, the State 

 Entomologist of Ohio, who for a great many years has made a special study of the 

 Hessian Fly, is of interest : — ' I think the proper time for sowing fall wheat is late 

 September. Early sown wheat will surely invite the attacks of the fly, and, while in 

 years when this is not abundant the wheat may go into winter in better condition 

 than that sown later, I believe that ordinarily this will not be the case. Your idea of 

 choosing vigorous growing varieties and sowing late, on land prepared in the best 

 possible manner is, to my mind, the right one. I think that in fall wheat the spring 

 brood of Hessian Fly generally selects the younger tillers. I have observed in many 

 cases that at harvest, what from appearances seemed to be tillers that had made the 

 least growth in the fall, were attacked by the fly in the spring and another stem had 

 been formed. Still, I do not think that any fixed rule can be laid down with regard 

 to this. I believe that the Hessian Fly in spring will lay its eggs upon any stem or 

 tiller that promises a good food supply for the young.' 



