VAEIOUS METHODS OF DISTUEBING, REMOVING, OE 

 CATCHING THE TUENIP FLY. 



Hulling ; driving sheep through the infested plants when the dew is on ; 

 brushing with loughs. The point of many of these applications being 

 made when the dew is on is very important, not only because under 

 these circumstances the dressings adhere to the leaves, but also when the 

 fly or flea beetle has its limbs clogged by moisture it cannot use its hind 

 legs for its long flea-like jumps ; consequently much larger numbers of 

 fly remain in reach of the dressings. Different method of using 

 boards or canvas smeared with tar, or other sticky material, for catching 

 the fly are also described. 



It is my invariable practice, when I see the plants attacked, at once 

 to run a light roll over them. The operation is not pleasant to these 

 troublesome insects. (C. H.) 



Rolling often saves a piece of Turnips ; it dusts the young plants, 

 and " firms " the soil to the injury of the fly, but to the benefit of the 

 Turnips. (W. J. E.) 



A process which has been practised with marked success by various 

 farmers in the neighbourhood of Ilminster is, when the plants have 

 got their second leaf, and the fly has made its appearance, to roll them 

 with a heavy horse-roller between one and two o'clock of a summer's 

 morning, when it is just light enough to see where to go. In 

 some cases the process has to be repeated at a fortnight's interval, but 

 usually one rolling is enough. (G. T. B.) 



DRIVING SHEEP. From observations I found that the fly does not 

 feed freely on dusty plants ; so I have been in the habit of driving a 

 flock of sheep over the field as soon as the plants appear. This I found 

 very beneficial, as, if done early in the morning, when there is a little 

 dew on the young leaves, the fine dust adheres to them, and the fly 

 will not feed on them until they have been washed. This remedy will 

 not act in rainy weather, but neither does the fly then work, or if it 

 does the plant soon outgrows the injury. If the sheep are driven 

 about on the land more than once they will do no harm, only a few 

 plants will be disturbed, This remedy is a very simple one, and I have 

 certainly found it efficacious. (J. T.) 



Eelatively to the same practice, I was favoured, in 1877, with the 

 following communication : 



The field of Turnips I drove sheep over was thirty-seven acres ; 

 number of sheep, 400 to 500. I think by so doing I quite saved the 

 plants, as the fly was then very strong on the young Turnips, then 

 from four to five weeks old, and evidently meant to clear the lot. This 

 is no new thing, as I have many times done so, and thereby saved the 



