192 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



So manj alarming reports were received during the course of the win- 

 ter as to the extent of damage, that it was deemed necessary for me to 

 visit the infested locality, which was accordingly done on my return from 

 Florida about the first of March. In company with Mr. C. R. Jones, of 

 the Charlotte Observer, I inspected several fields in the vicinity of 

 Charlotte, North Carolina, and found that the accounts had not been 

 exaggerated. In one infested field of 10 acyes, belonging to Mr. Geo. 

 King, there was hardly one plant left to each square rod of ground. 

 The diseased appearance most common in the wheat fields was a wilting 

 of the outer leaves of the plant. Professor Uhler informs me that the 

 customary method of injuring gTass or grain is to pierce and suck the 

 juices from the midrib of the leaf, and this method of work I have been 

 able to confirm by an examination of leaves taken from the infested 

 wheat. In a few cases I found the wilted leaves nearly cut oft' at the 

 base ; this must have been done by some other insect. 



In the wheat fields of Mr. W. W. Eankin the leaf-hoppers were at 

 work in large numbers. There was observable on this plantation a 

 most exact line between the eaten and the uneaten portions. Instead 

 of spreading ihemselves indiscriminately over the field, or half eating a 

 patch here and there, they ate the wheat down to the ground as they 

 progressed. In an eight-acre field six and one-half acres were utterly 

 destroyed, while on the remaining acre and a half the crop was almost 

 uninjured. It was, however, being rapidly destroyed. Here was ap- 

 parently a good opportunity to watch them at their work, but it was 

 impossible to do much on account of their extreme shyness, as they 

 would fly upon the least disturbance. Professor Uhler has observed 

 them about the time of oviposition resting on the midrib of a blade of 

 grass or grain, v/ith the head pointed towards the base of the leaf. The 

 eggs are usually laid in the stems of grasses near the ground, judging 

 from the known habits of allied species. The young hoppers when 

 hatched are of almost precisely the same appearance as the old ones, 

 except that they lack the wings. The time occupied in attaining full 

 growth probably does not exceed a month, so that there are several 

 broods a year. 



Many erroneous opinions were given concerning the nature of this 

 insect. Many considered it to be some form of the Hessian fly. Others, 

 without attempting to name it, called it the fly of the maggot, which 

 lives near the roots of the wheat. I was also informed by Mr. Jones 

 that a theory was prevalent to the effect that the leaf-hoppers had 

 spread from the cotton fields from the fact that similar insects were 

 found in the dried cotton bolls. An examination, however, showed the 

 cotton-boU insects to be a Psocus, often found in such situations, and 

 which belongs to an entirely different Order from the leaf-hoppers, the 

 I^europtet'a. 



The great damage done the past winter was probably a result of the 

 extreme mildness of the weather. Under ordinary circumstances the 

 leaf-hoppers are kept in winter quarters and many are killed by cold 

 weather. Tlie present winter has been so warm, however, that they have 

 been able to feed and reproduce continually. Moreover, the crops being 

 in a young and tender condition, the effect of the work of the hoppers 

 was infinitely more marked than it could ever be at any other season 

 of the year. Under the ordinary conditions, then, of a moderately cold 

 winter the ravages of this j)(ist are not to be feared. 



From our present knowledge of the habits of the leaf-hoppers, their 

 injuries in mild winters in the more southern portions of the wheat beii 

 will be very difficult to control. The only remedy which I have been 



