No. 8. Effect of the early sowing of Wheat on the Hessian Fly. 257 



saved, would be worth countless millions to 

 the agricultural interest of the State. 



I will venture to say that more than one 

 thousand tons of most valuable fertilizing 

 matter, finds its way daily to the rivers from 

 the city of New York ; sufficient to enrich 

 30,000 acres of the poorest land annually ; 

 in such a manner as to render it capable of 

 producing 130 bushels of shelled corn to the 

 acre; instead of its present yield 25 bush- 

 els. It would pay the Long Island, and Jer- 

 sey Agriculturists, to construct at the mouth 

 of the leading sewers, water tight chambers, 

 to collect the enriched waters of the city : 

 with which to irrigate their worn out and 

 famished lands. These waters contain in 

 solution every known requisite for the growth 

 of plants, they contain calcium, lime, car- 

 bonate of lime, sulphate of lime, nitrates, 

 sulphates, phosphates, alumina, silica, magne- 

 sia, oxides, organic and inorganic substances. 

 In fact every matter requisite to agriculture 

 is contained in them, refuse substances from 

 the apothecary, chemist and soap boiler find 

 their way into them, and they are beyond 

 the shadow of a doubt of inestimable value 

 for the purposes of irrigation. If Earl Moray 

 obtained, as I before stated £55 or $244 per 

 acre in a single year for his grass, grown on 

 poor sandy soil, in the neighbourhood of 

 Edinburgh; merely by the use of street 

 water; what is there to prevent the Long 

 Island farmer from obtaining like results. 

 Let me entreat you gentlemen to collect by 

 subscription a few thousand dollars and try 

 the experiment! You will then leave your 

 heirs a valuable inheritance. Pursue your 

 present mode of agriculture, and you will 

 impoverish yourselves, and drive your chil- 

 dren to the western wilds. — Farmer and 

 Mechanic. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



The effect of the early sowing of Wheat 

 on the increase of the Hessian Fly. 



Of late years it has been the practice in 

 this neighbourhood, to sow wheat earlier in 

 the season than had previously been custom- 

 ary for a long time. It is also observable, 

 that in a few years after this practice became 

 general, the ravages of the Hessian fly were 

 much increased. It is then an interesting 

 inquiry, whether the latter fact is a conse- 

 quence of the former: it is also important to 

 know, if possible, whether a continuation of 

 the practice will occasion a continuation of 

 the ravages of this insect. 



This is an intricate subject — enveloped in 

 much obscurity — but if we can obtain any 

 light upon it, it will probably be derived 

 from an examination of the habits of the 



insect before us. We may note then that 

 the fly is known to make its appearance in 

 the growing wheat early in the spring, in 

 the form of a small larva or maggot. It ap- 

 pears to feed upon the juices of the plant 

 for some time, and then it assumes a brown 

 covering, in which it lies in a state of inac- 

 tivity for a length of time which I have not 

 carefully observed — taking no food, and ap- 

 parently doing no other damage to the plant 

 than that which is produced by its mere 

 pressure upon the growing stalk. In the 

 early part of June — sooner or later, accord- 

 ing to the season — it comes forth in its fin- 

 ished stage of being, flies abroad and pro- 

 vides for the perpetuity of its race. 



This brood we may call the first genera- 

 tion of the insect. The second generation 

 may be observed soon after the disappear- 

 ance of the first, in wheat that is late in 

 ripening; in barley, rye, and probably in 

 some other gramineous plants, though of the 

 latter fact I have no clear evidence — nothing 

 but probable conjecture. I have, however, 

 seen the fly in abundance at this season, in 

 barley and in wheat; occupying the axil of 

 the upper leaf, and assuming the brown or 

 flaxseed appearance about the time the grain 

 is ripening. Of course in this state it is 

 carried into the barn or stack, and there pro- 

 bably it goes through its final metamorpho- 

 sis. This is the second generation. 



The third may be seen in the autumn, in 

 early sown wheat, assuming the brown co- 

 vering before winter, and lying in that state 

 till the warmth of spring rouses it from its 

 torpidity. It then obtains wings, bursts open 

 its shell, flies abroad to enjoy the balmy airs 

 of heaven and the rich scenery of earth; 

 and after providing for the succession of an- 

 other generation, speedily goes the way of 

 all flesh. There are, therefore, three gene- 

 rations of this pest of the farmer in each 

 and every year; one in the spring, another 

 in midsummer, and a third in the autumn 

 and winter. Such is the outline of the his- 

 tory of this insect, which I have deduced 

 from observation, and I feel satisfied that in 

 the main it is correct, though there is much 

 wanting to fill up the picture. 



Now it is manifest that whatever favours 

 the multiplication of the insect, must tend 

 to increase its ravages; and it is not less 

 obvious that the early sowing of wheat, by 

 furnishinfr it with increased facilities for the 

 propagation of its race, will have this efl^ect. 

 It is rational therefore to conclude, that the 

 great multiplication of the fly observable in 

 this neiQ-hbourhood within the last fevi years, 

 is mainly owing to the general practice of 

 early sowing which had preceded that event. 

 Nor does the fact that late sown wheat is as 



