210 SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. [Chap. IL 



and not sowing any grain upon it next year, might eradicate the insect, if 

 all wlio are atlected wouhl unite in that course, as all must in any other that 

 sliould be adopted. 



The remedy reconunended by our correspondent m Broome Co., of salting 

 the cut wheat iu the mow or stack, would not answer, for the maggots already 

 burrowed in the ground for winter, but the salt must be applied to the laud 

 in liberal quantities— say five to ten bushels per acre. "We cut up the cut- 

 worms effuetnally upon our corn ground this season with a handful of salt to 

 a hill. The corn fired a little at first, but it is growing beautifully now. 

 Every bug or worm can be killed in the soil, with salt, and we have no 

 doubt that will be found the most sure way of ridding the country of this 

 terrible pest of wheat-growers. The Cecldomyla trlticl of Kirby is what we 

 take to be the insect called the " red weevil." 



A " close observer" of the habits of the midge, says of one who had 

 written of the insect's wintering in the ground : 



" The writer is mistaken in some of his facts as to the habits of the insect, 

 as he can very easily satisfy himself by getting a few heads of wheat in the 

 pro]3er season that are aftected and putting them in a small glass jar. lie 

 will see that the worm does not go into the earth, but comes outside of the 

 head after destroying the grain of wheat it hatched in, and weaves itself up 

 into a snug little cocoon on the under side of the outside chafl". If he exam- 

 ine that cocoon after a time, he will find the worm has changed into a new 

 shape, and will ultimately come out a winged insect. I have never yet 

 been able to find the worm seeking shelter in the earth. It is this knowl- 

 edge of the habit of the insect that induces the belief that liberal salting of 

 the grain in mow or stack is fatal to it." 



Townend Glover, who is pretty good authority, says of this pest : 



'' The parent fly deposits her eggs in the beginning of July, and in the 

 opening flowers of the grain, or when the wheat is still in the milky state. 

 The eggs hatch in about eight days, when the little yellow maggots, or 

 worms, may be found within the chafty scales of the grain. The seed scales 

 of grass also sometimes serve as a shelter for these depredators. The worms, 

 which are of a bright yellow or orange color, do not exceed an eighth of an 

 inch iu length, and are often much smaller. I have seen as many as twelve 

 within the chafl' of one single grain, sent to the Patent Ofiice from Ohio. 

 These maggots prey upon the wheat when only in a milky state. When 

 they begin their depredations, soon after the blossoming of the plant, they 

 do the greatest injury, as the grains never fill out. Toward the last of July 

 or beginning of August the full-grown maggots cease eating, and become 

 sluggish and torpid, preparatory to shedding their skins, which takes place in 

 the following manner : The body of the maggot gradually shrinks in length 

 within its skin, and becomes more flattened and less pointed, as readily may 

 be seen through its delicate transparency. This torpid state lasts only a few 

 days, after which the insect casts its skin, leaving the latter entire, except a 

 little rent at one end of it. These empty cases, or skins, may be found in 



