﻿222 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  losses 
  from 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  tlie 
  Hessian 
  Fly. 
  Fortunatelj^ 
  the 
  parasitic 
  enemies 
  of 
  the 
  

   fly 
  increase 
  rapidly, 
  and 
  after 
  a 
  year 
  or 
  two 
  of 
  great 
  losses 
  from 
  this 
  insect 
  its 
  numbers 
  

   are 
  reduced 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  scarcely 
  to 
  be 
  noticed 
  for 
  some 
  years. 
  — 
  \_Cldcacjo 
  Tribune. 
  

  

  I 
  find 
  in 
  several 
  counties 
  of 
  northern 
  Ohio, 
  where 
  I 
  have 
  traveled 
  of 
  late, 
  a 
  good 
  

   deal 
  of 
  injury 
  is 
  done 
  to 
  the 
  young 
  wheat 
  by 
  the 
  fly 
  — 
  more 
  than 
  has 
  occurred 
  before 
  

   for 
  quite 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years. 
  This 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  practice 
  of 
  sowing 
  

   wheat 
  early, 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  made 
  a 
  remarkably 
  fine 
  growth 
  during 
  September, 
  

   when 
  the 
  warm 
  weather 
  was 
  also 
  very 
  favorable 
  for 
  the 
  propagation 
  of 
  the 
  flies. 
  The 
  

   worms 
  have 
  now 
  gone 
  into 
  the 
  x'>upa 
  or 
  ^'flaxseed" 
  state, 
  and 
  if 
  the 
  winter 
  is 
  not 
  

   too 
  wet 
  or 
  cold 
  for 
  them, 
  it 
  is 
  likely 
  the 
  new 
  brood 
  next 
  spring 
  will 
  prove 
  quite 
  mis- 
  

   chievous. 
  — 
  [B., 
  Cultivator 
  and 
  Couniry 
  Gentleman. 
  

  

  Pennsylvania 
  German 
  farmers 
  have 
  a 
  claim 
  to 
  be 
  considered 
  good 
  zoologists 
  by 
  their 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  animals, 
  from 
  the 
  noble 
  horse 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  insect 
  tribe, 
  that 
  so 
  beset 
  

   them 
  with 
  labor 
  and 
  loss. 
  The 
  German 
  farmers 
  have 
  been 
  apt 
  and 
  successful 
  in 
  con- 
  

   testing 
  the 
  insect 
  enemies 
  of 
  all 
  crops. 
  The 
  wheat 
  midge, 
  which 
  came 
  In 
  upon 
  us 
  

   twenty 
  years 
  ago 
  in 
  vast 
  numbers 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  June 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  July, 
  made 
  his 
  

   home 
  in 
  the 
  wheat-heads, 
  and 
  nurtured 
  his 
  progeny 
  in 
  the 
  cell 
  prepared 
  for 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   pectant 
  berry, 
  and 
  appropriated 
  the 
  element 
  nature 
  designed 
  for 
  the 
  perfection 
  of 
  the 
  

   seed 
  to 
  his 
  own 
  use. 
  This 
  insect 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  literally 
  destroyed 
  the 
  w^heat 
  ]3roduct. 
  

   Whether 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  scientific 
  discovery 
  that 
  taught 
  the 
  farmers 
  of 
  Lancaster 
  County 
  

   how 
  to 
  get 
  rid 
  of 
  this 
  destructive 
  insect 
  or 
  not, 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  learned. 
  But 
  I 
  do 
  know 
  

   that 
  I 
  purchased 
  and 
  carried 
  to 
  my 
  farm 
  Lancaster 
  red 
  wheat 
  which 
  I 
  wasirstructed 
  

   to 
  sow 
  in 
  August, 
  and 
  in 
  doing 
  so 
  freed 
  my 
  farm 
  of 
  this 
  pest. 
  Continued 
  early 
  sowing 
  

   proved 
  successful 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  season, 
  when 
  this 
  practice 
  brought 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly^ 
  

   who 
  begins 
  at 
  the 
  root 
  of 
  the 
  wheat 
  plant. 
  If 
  the 
  mother 
  fly 
  can 
  get 
  an 
  opjoortunity 
  

   to 
  deposit 
  its 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  season, 
  the 
  larva 
  will 
  stand 
  the 
  winter 
  imbedded 
  in 
  a 
  

   stalk 
  of 
  wheat 
  (which 
  is 
  a 
  well-tillered 
  plant), 
  and 
  brings 
  forth 
  enough 
  Hessian 
  Flies 
  

   to 
  destroy 
  the 
  wheat 
  before 
  harvest 
  time. 
  The 
  habit 
  of 
  this 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  is 
  to 
  bury 
  in 
  

   the 
  ground 
  with 
  the 
  first 
  frost 
  of 
  the 
  fall 
  season. 
  A 
  Lancaster 
  farmer 
  said 
  to 
  me 
  not 
  

   long 
  since, 
  we 
  must 
  sow 
  our 
  wheat 
  late 
  this 
  fail 
  if 
  we 
  would 
  avoid 
  the 
  fly. 
  Early- 
  

   sown 
  wheat 
  was 
  a 
  failure 
  in 
  Pennsylvania 
  to 
  an 
  extent, 
  in 
  my 
  estimation, 
  thatreduces 
  

   this 
  cereal 
  30 
  per 
  cent, 
  below 
  our 
  general 
  aA^erage. 
  The 
  corn 
  crop 
  over 
  the 
  entire 
  State 
  

   is 
  not 
  an 
  average 
  one. 
  The 
  oat 
  crop 
  is 
  above 
  the 
  average. 
  The 
  buckwheat 
  crop, 
  gen- 
  

   erally, 
  relied 
  upon 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  and 
  western 
  portions 
  of 
  our 
  State 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  pay- 
  

   ing 
  bread 
  grains, 
  has 
  been 
  very 
  extensively 
  injured 
  by 
  the 
  grasshopper, 
  and 
  cannot 
  be 
  

   expected 
  to 
  yield 
  more 
  than 
  one-half 
  the 
  usual 
  amount.— 
  [V. 
  E. 
  Piollet's 
  address 
  before 
  

   the 
  Berks 
  County 
  Agricultural 
  Society, 
  at 
  Reading. 
  

  

  The 
  letter 
  beJow 
  from 
  W. 
  B. 
  Billings 
  to 
  the 
  Elmira 
  (^. 
  Y.) 
  Farniers^ 
  

   Olub, 
  elicited 
  the 
  appended 
  discussion, 
  asre\3orted 
  in 
  the 
  Sushandman 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  perused 
  your 
  club 
  reports 
  withmuch 
  interest, 
  especiallythoserelatingto 
  the 
  

   Hessian 
  FJy. 
  In 
  an 
  exx)erience 
  of 
  fifteen 
  years 
  of 
  wheat 
  raising 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  about 
  four 
  

   acres 
  of 
  wheat 
  destroyed 
  by 
  this 
  pest. 
  Eight 
  years 
  ago 
  I 
  sowed 
  a 
  field 
  of 
  ten 
  acres 
  to 
  

   wheat, 
  four 
  acres 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  gravel, 
  the 
  remaining 
  six 
  acres 
  being 
  of 
  sandy 
  loam, 
  

   jn 
  places 
  so 
  wet 
  that 
  I 
  had 
  to 
  under-draiu 
  it. 
  Wheat 
  put 
  in 
  in 
  good 
  condition; 
  land 
  

   new 
  — 
  had 
  been 
  in 
  cultivation 
  only 
  the 
  two 
  previoivs 
  years. 
  Now 
  for 
  the 
  results: 
  

   During 
  the 
  fall 
  the 
  wheat 
  on 
  the 
  gravelly 
  part 
  started 
  quicker, 
  and 
  when 
  winter 
  set 
  in 
  

   looked 
  better, 
  the 
  fly 
  doing 
  no 
  appreciable 
  damage 
  to 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  field 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring 
  when 
  the 
  wheat 
  had 
  apparently 
  reached 
  about 
  six 
  inches 
  in 
  height, 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  

   gravel 
  commenced 
  turning 
  yellow 
  about 
  the 
  roots, 
  and 
  from 
  that 
  time 
  forward 
  grew 
  

   thinner 
  and 
  most 
  beautifully 
  less 
  until 
  harvest, 
  when 
  I 
  cut 
  it 
  with 
  a 
  mower 
  and 
  raked 
  

   it 
  vvith 
  a 
  wheel-rake, 
  getting 
  about 
  as 
  much 
  straw 
  as 
  farmers 
  generally 
  get 
  from 
  raking 
  

   a 
  like 
  amount 
  of 
  ordinary 
  wheat 
  stubble. 
  On 
  the 
  remaining 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  field 
  the 
  

   wheat 
  was 
  good, 
  no 
  noticeable 
  damage 
  being 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  fly. 
  A 
  few 
  years 
  previous 
  

   to 
  this 
  I 
  knew 
  of 
  a 
  field 
  of 
  spring 
  wheat 
  that 
  was 
  almost 
  entirely 
  destroyed 
  by 
  the- 
  

  

  