252 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



species which prey upon the wheat-fly ; and as all these parasites 

 upon the Cecidomyioe are more or less closely related to each other, 

 they can probably be most advantageously presented in a separate 

 article devoted exclusively to that subject. 



Four or more species are known abroad, which destroy the wheat- 

 worm. One of these, it is stated in the first volume of the Edinburgh 

 Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, deposits an egg beside an egg of 

 the wheat-fly, the worm from which devours the wheat-worm soon 

 after it hatches, and thus effectually saves the wheat. The observa- 

 tions of Mr. ShirrefF upon another of these, cannot but interest the 

 reader. He says, "Upon presenting four ]arvffi(of the wheat-fly) to 

 an ichneumon, it soon stung, or, according to Mr. Kirby, deposited 

 an egg in each of their bodies, and stung one of them a second time. 

 The maggot writhed in seeming agony, and straggled upon my 

 thumb-nail, where it was again stung three times by the same fly ; 

 and in a second struggle, both fell to the ground. 



Artificial means for arresting its ravages. 



These may be divided into two classes, as they refer to the 

 protection of the grain from the fly when in its winged form and 

 depositing its eggs ; or as they are directed to the destruction of 

 the fly itself, in the previous stages of its existence. 



Several measures have been proposed, and some of them with 

 much confidence and plausibility of reasoning, for protecting the 

 wheat crop from this insect during the period of its blossoming. 

 The more prominent of these I will advert to. 



The smoke of a number of smouldering fires, or of brimstone 

 matches, in different parts, and particularly upon the windward side 

 of an infested field, has been recommended. The known efficacy 

 of smoke in repelling the musketoe renders it probable that this 

 remedy would be of signal utility, were it not for the discouraging 

 amount of laiiK>r that is required to make so thorough and protracted 

 a use of it as would be necessary. 



It has been suggested that the anal follicles of the skunk (Me- 

 phitis americana, Desm.) might be extracted, and that yarn impreg- 

 nated with the fluid contained in them, and suspended through 

 wheat-fields, would, by its intolerable odor, banish the wheat-fly. 

 I imagine that in carrying this suggestion into practice, the operator 

 would be the greatest sufferer — " unless my nose deceives me." 



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