TURNIP FLY. 35 



Observations regarding injury to promising plants on well-prepared ground 

 by fly coming out of neglected surroundings; also of fly -attack being 

 interrupted, and freedom from fly -attack occurring, respectively, at a 

 portion of differently -manured ground. 



I manured the whole (fifty- two acres) with farm-yard dung, sixteen 

 cart-loads, and four hundredweights of artificial manure per acre. I 

 got a splendid mould on the land, a fine state for sowing, neither too 

 wet nor too dry, got good braird each time, hut just to he devoured 

 in a day or two. The insects seem to be worse where they get shelter. 

 In one field, one-half Potato, the other Turnip, a number of drills 

 next the Potatoes were entirely eaten off, not a single plant left ; whilst 

 the remainder gave about half a crop ; and in another, where a dyke, 

 hedge, and ditch run alongside, with a quantity of grass growing 

 betwixt the hedge and dyke, a number of drills next this fence were 

 similarly eaten off to those next the Potatoes. In another field a very 

 peculiar incident happened : Being four days in sowing it, on the 

 fourth day I carted on the cotter's dung, and spread it in drills the 

 same as the farm-yard dung, treating it the same as my own in every 

 way, excepting that there was no addition to this of artificial manure, 

 and it was cold, whereas my own was in a heated state ; also I used 

 the same seed. The first-sown part of the field was the first brairded, 

 and also the first attacked by fly, and so on with each day ; but when 

 they came to the part manured with the cotter's dung they thinned 

 the first drill ; of the second they ate only a few, passed over the 

 remainder, and attacked mine on the other side, and ate them to such 

 an extent that I had to resow them, with most of the field. Now the 

 cotter's few drills are a very good crop, whilst the rest is very blanky 

 (on some acres not a Turnip), being eaten up by fly the second time. 

 -(D. H.) 



On a field of twenty acres of Swedes, one-half was drilled with 

 manure and dissolved bones, the rest with dissolved bones only, and 

 two ridges near the middle of the field with manure from a privy and 

 ash-pit. The fly was troublesome on the whole field, but not so bad as 

 to necessitate resowing, except the two ridges, on which they took 

 every Turnip. (W. S.) 



At Goldsborough, Knaresborough, where it is observed by the 

 contributor that he is not aware that he ever saw the fly so numerous 

 before, a piece of Tares was noticed as gradually looking worse for 

 three weeks, and on examination fly was found to be at work. There 

 was not any weed noticeable in the field, certainly not Charlock, and 

 when the Turnips adjoining got up (when the first-sown were about a 

 week old) the fly appeared on them, and entirely left the Tares for the 

 Turnips. From the condition of the Tares it appeared that the fly 



