﻿LOSSES 
  OCCASIONED 
  BY 
  THE 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY. 
  199 
  

  

  Altliougli 
  this 
  chapter 
  has 
  been 
  prepared 
  by 
  but 
  one 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  

   Commission, 
  the 
  writer 
  is 
  indebted 
  to 
  Prof. 
  0. 
  Y. 
  Eiley 
  for 
  drawings, 
  

   specimens, 
  and 
  dataj 
  to 
  Professor 
  Thomas 
  forfacts 
  and 
  suggestions; 
  and 
  

   he 
  would 
  also 
  acknowledge 
  aid 
  received 
  from 
  Prof. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Cook, 
  of 
  the 
  

   State 
  Agricultural 
  College, 
  Lansing, 
  Mich., 
  whose 
  address 
  on 
  the 
  Hes- 
  

   sian 
  Fly 
  has 
  been 
  of 
  much 
  service 
  and 
  liberally 
  quoted, 
  and 
  also 
  from 
  

   the 
  correspondents 
  and 
  agricultural 
  papers 
  mentioned 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  in 
  

   the 
  following 
  pages. 
  

  

  LOSSES 
  OCCASIONED 
  BY 
  THE 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY. 
  

  

  This 
  fly 
  firsfc 
  became 
  a 
  serious 
  pest 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1779, 
  

   although, 
  as 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  further 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  section 
  on 
  the 
  distribution 
  

   of 
  the 
  insect, 
  it 
  probably 
  began 
  its 
  work 
  of 
  destruction 
  on 
  Staten 
  Island 
  

   and 
  Long 
  Island 
  in 
  1776. 
  According 
  to 
  Fitch, 
  1779 
  was 
  probably 
  the 
  

   date 
  when 
  its 
  ravages 
  actually 
  began. 
  '^ 
  The 
  crops 
  of 
  wheat 
  were 
  severely 
  

   injured 
  or 
  wholly 
  destroyed 
  by 
  it 
  in 
  Kiug 
  and 
  Eichmond 
  Counties 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  several 
  of 
  the 
  following 
  years, 
  and 
  each 
  succeeding 
  generation 
  regu- 
  

   larly 
  enlarged 
  the 
  sphere 
  of 
  its 
  devastations 
  in 
  every 
  direction." 
  

  

  In 
  1781 
  the 
  fly 
  almost 
  totally 
  destroyed 
  the 
  wheat 
  croj) 
  in 
  eastern 
  

   Long 
  Island, 
  and 
  in 
  1786 
  the 
  crops 
  were 
  either 
  totally 
  or 
  partially 
  de- 
  

   stroyed 
  in 
  I^ew 
  Jersey 
  in 
  and 
  about 
  Prospect, 
  an 
  area 
  situated 
  forty 
  

   miles 
  southwest 
  of 
  Staten 
  Island. 
  In 
  1786 
  and 
  1787 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  this 
  

   pest 
  attracted 
  much 
  attention 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  Pennsylvania; 
  the 
  

   wheat 
  crop 
  on 
  eastern 
  Long 
  Island 
  having 
  been 
  "cut 
  off 
  almost 
  uni- 
  

   versally." 
  About 
  Trenton, 
  K. 
  J., 
  in 
  1788, 
  the 
  wheat 
  crop 
  was 
  in 
  many 
  

   cases 
  a 
  total 
  failure. 
  As 
  wheat 
  in 
  large 
  quantities 
  was 
  at 
  this 
  period 
  

   exported 
  to 
  Great 
  Britain, 
  ^^ 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  appalling 
  havoc 
  that 
  this 
  

   insect 
  was 
  making 
  excited 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  the 
  government 
  there 
  and 
  

   aroused 
  their 
  fears 
  lest 
  so 
  dreadful 
  a 
  scourge 
  should 
  be 
  introduced 
  into 
  

   that 
  country 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  grain." 
  (Fitch.) 
  As 
  a 
  result, 
  

   the 
  exportation 
  of 
  grain 
  from 
  America 
  was 
  prohibited 
  until 
  the 
  English 
  

   Government 
  was 
  assured 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  with 
  eggs 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  introduced 
  

   in 
  the 
  grain. 
  As 
  long 
  since 
  as 
  1800, 
  Dr. 
  S. 
  L. 
  Mitchell, 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  

   affirmed 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  insect 
  is 
  more 
  formidable 
  to 
  us 
  than 
  would 
  be 
  an 
  

   army 
  of 
  twenty 
  thousand 
  Hessians." 
  (Herrick.) 
  

  

  Between 
  1789 
  and 
  1803 
  severe 
  losses 
  ensued 
  from 
  its 
  attacks 
  in 
  Sara- 
  

   toga 
  and 
  Washington 
  Counties, 
  New 
  York 
  j 
  " 
  on 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  occasions 
  

   many 
  of 
  the 
  fields 
  in 
  Saratoga 
  were 
  entirely 
  destroyed." 
  

  

  In 
  1804 
  President 
  Dwight, 
  of 
  Yale 
  College, 
  remarked 
  that 
  ^Hhis 
  in- 
  

   sect 
  is 
  feeble 
  and 
  helpless 
  in 
  the 
  extreme, 
  defenseless 
  against 
  the 
  least 
  

   enemy, 
  and 
  crushed 
  by 
  the 
  most 
  delicate 
  touch 
  ; 
  yet 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  it 
  

   has 
  taxed 
  this 
  country 
  annually 
  more, 
  perhaps, 
  than 
  a 
  million 
  of 
  dol- 
  

   lars." 
  (Herrick.) 
  

  

  In 
  1803 
  and 
  1804, 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Eichmond, 
  Ya., 
  " 
  they 
  swept 
  

   whole 
  fields." 
  In 
  1817 
  it 
  " 
  renewed 
  its 
  ravages 
  in 
  various 
  sections 
  of 
  

  

  