INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 129 



sowing to give abundant time for the repeated working of the 

 soil in order to recompact the subsurface soil and secure a fine but 

 shallow seed-bed in which- there has been developed, by tillage and 

 the action of the atmosphere, an abundance of readily available 

 plant food. Manures and fertilizers should be kept near the sur- 

 face and the young roots encouraged to spread out on the surface 

 soil, thus avoiding much of the damage by heaving in winter and 

 leaving the deeper soil for fresh pasturage for the plants during 

 the following spring and summer." 



In summarizing his knowledge of means of controlling this 

 pest, Professor F. M. Webster, who is probably our best authority 

 upon it ,says: " After thirteen years of study of the Hessian fly, 

 I am satisfied that four-fifths of its injuries may be prevented by 

 a better system of agriculture. For years I have seen w r heat grown 

 on one side of a division-fence without the loss of a bushel by 

 attack of this pest, while on the other side the crop was invariably 

 always more or less injured. No effect of climate, meteorological 

 conditions, or natural enemies could have brought about such a 

 contrast of results. The whole secret was in the management 

 of the soil and the seeding." 



The Wheat Saw-fly Borer * 



The " Corn Saw-fly " has for many years been a well-known 

 wheat pest throughout England, France, and the Continent, 

 but was not noted as injurious in this country till 1889, when 

 Professor J. H. Comstock published a very complete account 

 of its injuries upon the University Farm at Ithaca, N. Y., where 

 it had done more or less damage for two years, though Mr. 

 F. H. Chittenden states that he collected a single adult at Ithaca 

 in the early '80's. Specimens were also collected at Ottawa, 

 Canada, and Buffalo, N. Y., in 1887 and 1888, and injury has been 

 reported by Dr. James Fletcher from Manitoba and the Northwest 

 Territories. The injury under Dr. Fletcher's observation, how- 

 ever, was probably due to a nearly related species, the Western 



* Cephus pygmceus Linn. Family Cephidce. Bulletin 11, Cornell Univ 

 Agr. Exp. Station. 



