168 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 
63 VICTORIA, A. 1900 - 
The following article was published in the Farmers’ Advocate for September 15, 
1899, and similar articles were prepared for the Vor- West Farmer and other Manitoban 
papers :— 
THE HESSIAN FLY. 
During the past season rather extensive injury has been wrought by that old-time 
enemy of the wheat-grower, the Hessian Fly. From Western Ontario comes intelli- 
gence of the worst attack upon fall wheat, and the question is asked by some farmers 
there, phether it would not be well to discontinue altogether for a season the cultivation 
seme Of fall wheat. The most serious injury and the attack of by far the 
=— — sae ere importance as pointing to future possibilities of loss from 
“S53 the Hessian Fly is reported from the Province of Manitoba, by Mr. 
UiGadkas H. Greig, the Manitoba editor of the Farmer’s Advocate. 
Inquiries and specimens have been received from almost all parts of 
the province, and from as far west as Moose Jaw in the Territories. 
Correspondents estimate the loss at between 5 and 20 per cent. 
This, of course, is all in spring wheat, as in the west no grain is 
sown in the autumn. 
The life history of the Hessian Fly is well known. The effects 
of the injurious work of the maggots on fall wheat can be recognized 
in the spring of the year by one or more dead shoots or whole plants 
in wheat fields. Upon examining these plants the characteristic 
pupa-cases, which resemble closely small elongated flax seeds, may 
be found in the crowns of the injured plants. Sometimes three or 
Ki four specimens will occur beneath the leaf-sheaths of a single shoot. 
ig. 3.—Hessian Fly: : : : : : 
injured wheat-stem; Lhe flies from this brood emerge in the spring and lay their eggs 
three pupariaenlarged. upon the leaves of the shooting grain, and later, as at the present 
time in Manitoba, the same flax-seed-like pupa-cases “described above and shown at Fig. 
3 may be found above (as a rule, but occasionally higher), the first or second joints of the 
stems of barley, rye and wheat, where they lie between the base of the leaf-sheath and the 
stem, somewhat sunk in the tissues, so as to give the appearance of being actually inside the 
stem. During their growth the maggots have lived at the expense of the wheat plant, 
sucking the sap, so that the stems are weakened and frequently fall down, bending over 
just above the point of attack. This is well shown at Fig. 3a, and by it the presence of 
this enemy will probably be recognized by many Manitoba farmers who may have over- 
looked it in their crop. In Manitoba, it is most probably the case that there is only 
one brood of the Hessian Fly in the year, the winter being passed in the ‘flax-seed’ 
condition, for the most part in the stubble, but also to some extent in the straw which 
was harvested. Further south than Manitoba there are two distinct broods. 
The perfect insect, a tiny blackish gnat, not expanding more than a quarter of an 
inch from tip to tip of its wings, appears in May and June and lays its eggs, which pro- 
duce the summer stem- attacking brood. In Manitoba the flies from this brood do not 
emerge until the following spring, but in Ontario they appear in August and until about 
the middle of September, and the females lay their minute scarlet eggs upon the inside 
crease of the leaves of early-sown fall wheat. The young maggots, upon hatching, work 
their way down to the axils of the leaves, where the injury to the ‘plant i is done. Most 
of these maggots become full grown before winter sets in, and assume the ‘ flax-seed’ 
condition. 
Remedies—|. Late sowing.— With regard to fall wheat, the postponement of seed- 
ing until after the third week in September delays the appearance of the young plants 
above the ground until all the egg-laying flies of the second brood are dead. In cases 
where fall wheat has been sown in August and is already well up, it will be well this 
year, in such localities as the Hessian Fly is known to have been present, to feed off the 
young grain with sheep. In this way many of the eggs, it is claimed, are eaten with 
the leaves of the wheat. Care must be taken that the fields are not cropped too closely 
or too late in the season, 
2. Burning refuse.—Many of the ‘flax-seeds’ of the summer brood are carried 
with the straw, and at threshing are dislodged and thrown down beneath the machine, 
