FOR BETTER CROPS; 101 



that time and space need not be piven them. vVhen hJiiI arid' 

 wind destroy the crops there is no remedy, unless insurance; of 

 crops should come to include these forms of destruction. And 

 for insect enemies the best remedy after all is a thrifty plant. 

 He who farms well will often escape injury, while his careless 

 neighbor loses his crop. Intelligent farming is good farming, 

 and only good farming is profitable farming. 



The Hessian Fly — Yet there are exceptional years when some 

 enemy threatens the complete destruction of the wheat crop, 

 and prompt measures must be taken to save it. In the case of 

 attacks by the Hessian fly the plan has been suggested by the 

 Ohio experiment station of making several sowings of wheat, 

 the first one large enough to attract the full force of the Hes- 

 sian fly, and thus save the later sowings from its ravages. The 



Drilling in the seed 



portion of the wheat that has been invaded by the fly and on 

 which its eggs have been deposited, should then be plowed 

 under. Others recommend sowing strips of rye around the 

 wheat fields about the same date. They claim the fly will 

 deposit its eggs on the rye, and the rye can then be turned 

 under. In either case, whether plowing under wheat or rye, 

 the plowing should be so thoroughly done that no ends of wheat 

 or rye blades or of weeds can be seen, as these would form an 

 avenue of escape for the buried insects. After plowing, the 

 ground should be harrowed, and if necessary compacted with a 

 roller, so that no larvae thus buried may survive as flies. Burn- 

 ing of stubble is strongly advised by the experiment stations, 

 where clover does not follow wheat, as in this way the fly will 

 be destroyed in the " flax seed " stage. 



The fact that a season that is favorable for one pest is un- 

 favorable for another is fortunate. In times of drought the 



