268 THE WHEAT CULTIJKIST. 



by its parasitic enemies. It is to be hoped that farmers 

 who last year finished sowing in August and the first 

 of September, will consult their true interests by defer- 

 ring the work till a later period in the month. I am 

 aware that in endeavoring to escape one calamity it is 

 advisable, if possible, to avoid the opposite evil. 



" On stiff, tenacious clay loams, especially when not 

 thoroughly underdrained, wheat sown after the month 

 of September, is liable to be injured by the winter and 

 spring frosts ; or if carried safely through the winter, 

 protected by its mantle of snow, it is more endangered 

 by the attacks of the spring fly, it not being sufficiently 

 vigorous to outgrow the effects of the injury. Late 

 sown sandy soils, also, when not properly tilled, are still 

 more exposed to the attacks of this spring generation. 

 In districts where the midge prevails, it is all-important 

 that sowing should not be at so late a period as to re- 

 tard the ripening of the crop. It is a fact, however, no 

 doubt familiar to every careful, observing farmer, that 

 under the same conditions of the land there is scarcely 

 any difference in the ripening of wheat sown in the 

 first or third week of September. There seems, there- 

 fore, to be a necessity for selecting a medium period for 

 sowing as the best protection against the fly, avoiding at 

 the same time other evils incident to the late sowing. 



" A single frost is supposed to destroy all the insects 

 while in the state of the fly. There is, consequently, 

 no danger to be apprehended if the wheat is not sown 

 nor up until after an autumnal frost. In seasons, 

 therefore, when the fly is known to be prevalent, it 

 would doubtless be the safer plan to defer sowing until 

 even the last week in September, should not a sharp 

 frost in the mean time occur. In the climate of Michi- 



