﻿HESSIAN 
  FLl 
  : 
  NOT 
  INDIGENOUS 
  IN 
  AMERICA. 
  239 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  that 
  tbe 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  oc- 
  

   cur 
  in 
  England, 
  Scandinavia, 
  Holland 
  or 
  Belgium, 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  

   most 
  probably 
  was 
  introduced 
  into 
  Germany 
  and 
  central 
  Eussia 
  from 
  

   the 
  southward, 
  i. 
  e., 
  the 
  Mediterranean 
  region, 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  was 
  

   not 
  originally 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  entomological 
  fauna 
  of 
  northern 
  and 
  

   central 
  Europe. 
  Had 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  been 
  indigenous 
  to 
  the 
  Middle 
  

   and 
  New 
  England 
  States, 
  and 
  been 
  at 
  all 
  prevalent 
  before 
  the 
  Revolu- 
  

   tionary 
  war, 
  it 
  would 
  undoubtedly 
  have 
  been 
  carried 
  in 
  loads 
  of 
  wheat 
  

   to 
  England. 
  A 
  search 
  through 
  the 
  files 
  of 
  old 
  Philadelphia 
  papers 
  in 
  

   the 
  National 
  Library 
  at 
  Washington, 
  while 
  it 
  failed 
  to 
  reveal 
  any 
  data 
  

   regarding 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  in 
  the 
  colonies 
  before 
  1776, 
  

   and 
  no 
  articles 
  were 
  found 
  other 
  than 
  those 
  already 
  cited 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Fitch,!^^ 
  

   yet 
  elicited 
  one 
  interesting 
  fact, 
  i. 
  e., 
  that 
  wheat 
  was 
  raised 
  in 
  Canada 
  

   and 
  the 
  American 
  colonies 
  and 
  exported 
  to 
  England, 
  especially 
  the 
  port 
  

   of 
  London. 
  Grain 
  vessels 
  loaded 
  at 
  Quebec, 
  and 
  also 
  from 
  New 
  Eng- 
  

   land, 
  for 
  Loudon 
  ^^^ 
  and 
  other 
  ports. 
  

  

  Now 
  if 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  had 
  been 
  indigenous 
  many 
  years 
  before 
  1776, 
  

   in 
  the 
  wheat-fields 
  of 
  this 
  country, 
  some 
  at 
  least 
  would 
  probably 
  have 
  

   been 
  carried 
  in 
  loads 
  of 
  grain 
  to 
  England. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand 
  if 
  the 
  

   Hessian 
  Fly 
  had 
  been 
  indigenous 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  northern 
  Europe, 
  it 
  

   would 
  doubtless 
  have 
  been 
  brought 
  over 
  to 
  this 
  country 
  some 
  j^ears 
  

   before 
  the 
  American 
  Ee 
  volution. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand 
  it 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  

   imi^orted 
  into 
  the 
  French 
  colonies 
  in 
  Canada 
  from 
  southern 
  France, 
  by 
  

   immigrants. 
  Whether 
  there 
  ever 
  was 
  much 
  of 
  a 
  trade 
  between 
  the 
  Med- 
  

   iterranean 
  ports 
  and 
  Canada 
  before 
  the 
  Eevolutionary 
  war 
  we 
  cannot 
  

   say. 
  But 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  most 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  was 
  an 
  in- 
  

   habitant 
  originally 
  of 
  a 
  warm 
  and 
  dry 
  country, 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Med- 
  

   iterranean 
  region. 
  We 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  Cecidomyia 
  destructor 
  does 
  not 
  

   inhabit 
  England 
  or 
  Scandinavia. 
  In 
  New 
  England, 
  north 
  of 
  Conuecti- 
  

   <;ut, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  common, 
  and 
  has 
  only 
  occasionally 
  been 
  locally 
  destructive. 
  

   Its 
  ravages 
  have 
  been 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  Middle 
  and 
  Western 
  States, 
  and 
  

   western 
  Canada. 
  A 
  comparison 
  of 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  with 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Wheat 
  Midge, 
  Diplosis 
  triticij 
  which 
  as 
  everybody 
  knows 
  

   is 
  common 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  throughout 
  northern 
  Europe, 
  and 
  was 
  un- 
  

   doubtedly 
  imported 
  into 
  this 
  country, 
  will 
  throw 
  light 
  on 
  this 
  subject. 
  

  

  "' 
  The 
  writer 
  has 
  made 
  an 
  attempt 
  to 
  find 
  some 
  mention 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly 
  in 
  old 
  colonial 
  newspapers 
  

   published 
  before 
  1779, 
  but 
  the 
  files 
  of 
  the 
  Philadelphia 
  Packet 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Mercury 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  

   Library, 
  which 
  are 
  imperfect, 
  disclosed 
  nothing 
  that 
  Fitch 
  does 
  not 
  quote. 
  There 
  are 
  no 
  full 
  files 
  of 
  

   colonial 
  papers 
  in 
  the 
  Boston 
  and 
  Cambridge 
  libraries, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  unless 
  in 
  the 
  State 
  

   Library 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  at 
  Albany, 
  there 
  can 
  no 
  records 
  be 
  found 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  Fly, 
  other 
  than 
  those 
  

   referred 
  to 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Fitch. 
  

  

  "8 
  "On 
  Friday 
  last 
  arrived 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  [London] 
  from 
  Quebec, 
  the 
  Active, 
  Trampton, 
  with 
  a 
  cargo 
  of 
  

   wheat, 
  being 
  the 
  first 
  vessel 
  that 
  ever 
  came 
  to 
  London 
  from 
  that 
  port 
  with 
  grain. 
  London, 
  October 
  

   IS.''— 
  From 
  the 
  Pennsylvania 
  Packet, 
  December 
  27, 
  1773. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Philadelphia 
  Mercury, 
  for 
  October 
  7, 
  1775, 
  it 
  is 
  stated 
  that 
  "great 
  quantities 
  of 
  wbeat 
  were 
  

   raised 
  at 
  Genoa, 
  Leghorn, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  Mediterranean. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  This 
  year 
  there 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   plentiful 
  harvests 
  in 
  Italy 
  ever 
  known." 
  

  

  The 
  ports 
  of 
  London, 
  Bristol, 
  and 
  Liverpool, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  every 
  other 
  port 
  in 
  England, 
  have 
  received 
  

   immense 
  supplies 
  [of 
  wheat] 
  from 
  America, 
  much 
  more 
  than 
  their 
  consumption 
  can 
  take 
  care 
  of. 
  — 
  

   Extracts 
  from 
  a 
  letter 
  dated 
  October 
  7, 
  1775, 
  from 
  an 
  eminent 
  house 
  in 
  'Lishon.— 
  Philadelphia 
  Mercury, 
  

   December 
  22, 
  1:75. 
  

  

  