278 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



THE WHEAT MIDGE. 



John Johnston, Esq., of Seneca county, one of our 

 best farmers, writes, June 25th, — 



"The weevil (wheat midge) has made its appear- 

 ance among our wheat crops, more especially in the 

 ea«t and north of our county, immediately in this 

 neighborhood. I think there will be no serious loss 

 this season." 



The following account of the Wheat Midge, taken 

 from the North British Agriculturist, received from 

 J. Hall Maxwell, Secretary Highland and Agricul- 

 tural Society of Scotland, will be doubtless interest- 

 ing to farmers : — 



" In examining the ears in an early field, some 

 yellow maggots were found. This led to the con- 

 clusion that some fly or other had deposited its eggs 

 within the glume, where the maggots were discov- 

 ered ; and by examining the ears with a microscope, 

 numbers of apparently new laid-eggs were discovered 

 in clusters near the embryo grain. This, of course, 

 led to further research ; and on a later field of spring- 

 sown wheat, just as the one side of the ear had 

 opened the sheath, we observed, as was anticipated, 

 as many as twelve or fourteen midges on. the ex- 

 posed ])art of each ear, busily employed in deposit- 

 ing their eggs within the glume, which, we remarked, 

 were glued to the inside of the glume by a gummy 

 substance, exuded at the same time with the eggs. 

 One of our party remarked that he had seen the 

 same fly deposit eggs in the same way on a panicle 

 of grass ; on examining which, we found it to be the 

 common couch grass, the triticum repens of lAnnseus, 

 showing that the Swede was a more correct botanist 

 than those of modern times, who have assigned it 

 another genus than that of triticum or wheat. We 

 have not heard that it has been ever observed to 

 deposit eggs on any other grass. Having so far 

 found out the cause of what went under the conve- 

 nient name of the ' blight iu wheat,' we applied to 

 Kirby and Spence, who had previously written con- 

 cerning this little gnat, and who knew it by the 

 name of tipiila tritice, but who still left us in igno- 

 rance as to its winter quarters. 



•' Our attention was directed to find out any thing 

 we could about its transformation ; and wo placed some 

 ears in a glass runner, with the stalks inserted an inch 

 in sand, through a paper perforated with holes, to let 

 the stalks downwards into the sand. This paper 

 covering was intended to let us observe more easily 

 when the larvae left the ear. About three weeks 

 thereafter, on examining wheat ears in the field, we 

 found many of them quite emjity of the larva?, and 

 the embryo grain quite dead where the larvae had 

 been. We then examined the ears in the runner, 

 and found them also empty, without any appearing 

 on the paper below ; on lifting of which carefully, we 

 fovind the larva? had descended, and found their way 

 down through the perforations made for the wheat 

 stalks, now in the dormant pupa state, of a semi- 

 circular shape and copper color. This led to further 

 observations in such fields as had been somewhat 

 later ; when it was observed that the outer parts of 

 the glume were inhabited by small black beetles in 

 great numbers ; and we found, as soon as the larva 

 escaped from the glume, the beetle, led apparently 

 by the smell, moved about with rapidity, making 

 much use of its feelers ; and whenever a feeler touched 

 the larva, it instantly darted an egg into its body, 

 making it the nidus of its future progeny. This 

 beetle is called by the naturalists cemphron destructor, 

 and seems one of those means by which the wise and 

 beneficent Ruler of all things gives a check to crea- 

 tures that might otherwise prove seriously hurtful. 

 Such investigations, to which farmers were led, soon 

 made them quite familiar with every thing connected 

 ■with the habits of the fly. It was found that it 



came into the fly state when the mean temperature 

 of the preceding ten days was about fifty-six degrees 

 Fahrenheit. It was also perceived that it was too 

 delicate to be exposed to the sun's rays throughout 

 the day, when it continued among the shady wheat 

 foliage; and it could only lay its eggs in a calm even- 

 ing, when the temperature was at or about fifty-six 

 degrees, betaking itself to the shelter when the tem- 

 perature fell to fifty-three or fifty-four degrees ; nor 

 could it deposit its eggs except the air was ])erfectly 

 calm, and its work of mischief, it was found, could 

 only be performed during three days, at the most, of 

 the plants' growth, just as the one side of the ear 

 appeared. Various plans have been devised for 

 preventing its depredations, but hitherto, so far as 

 we know, these have all been ineffectual." 



In this state, the varieties of wheat known as the 

 Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the former a winter, 

 and the latter a spring variety, have more frequently 

 escaped the ravages of the wheat midge than any 

 other, and are now being largely cultivated in those 

 sections of the state where the insect has appeared; 

 It is probably owing to their ripening at a season when 

 the fly is not so prevalent, that they escape, to a great 

 extent, its ravages. The White Blue Stem, a winter 

 variety, and a very fine white wheat, is said also to 

 escape the ravages of the fly. It has been cultivated 

 in Marjdand considerably, and to some extent in 

 Chatauque county, in this state. — Selected. 



Remarks by Editor N. E. Farmer. — The wheat 

 worm has been so destructive in some parts of New 

 England, that the culture of wheat has, occasionally, 

 been almost wholly abandoned. The best preventive 

 is late sowing, so that the midge or fly will have ap- 

 peared and passed away, before the wheat is in a 

 suitable state for it to operate on this plant. A great 

 evil that sometimes attends late sowing is rust, so 

 that the farmer, in avoiding one evil, runs into an- 

 other. But with care in selecting those varieties of 

 wheat not liable to rust, — and such there are, — the 

 effects of the worm may be prevented without serious 

 evil, generally, from the rust. This is a very im- 

 portant subject, and we hope that farmers will give 

 more attention in selecting wheat that is generally 

 exempt from rust. 



CHEMISTRY IN ITS RELATION TO AG- 

 RICULTURE. 



Of all sciences, chemistry is that which has the 

 nearest relation to agriculture, and lends to it the 

 greatest aid. It is a science that points out to us 

 means by which we may add to the fertility of the 

 ground through the medium of foreign substances 

 applied to it ; but, in the case of chemistry, as in 

 that of all other sciences, a certain degree of caution 

 is necessary in carrying into practice the rules laid 

 down by the theorist, when in his laboratory. Chem- 

 istry enables us at once to test the real value of any 

 given substance, without the uncertainty and loss 

 of time attendant on a trial; and when it is consid- 

 ered how much time must have been lost, how un- 

 satisfactory the result must repeatedly have been, 

 when no such knowledge existed to certify the jjrog- 

 ress of discovery, the value of this science may in 

 some measure be estimated. It is certain that the 

 principles on which vegetables are nourished de- 

 pend altogether upon chemistry ; and agriculture, in 

 its modern and improved state, has led, with consid- 

 erable precision, to a knowledge of those laws of 

 vegetation by which we are enabled to ameliorate the 

 land, and to increase the quantity as well as improve 



