﻿THE 
  HESSIAl^r 
  FLY 
  IN 
  NEBRASKA. 
  243 
  

  

  THE 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY 
  IN 
  TENNESSEE. 
  

  

  Charlotte, 
  Tenn., 
  I^'ovemher 
  1, 
  1879. 
  

  

  Dear 
  Sir: 
  The 
  following 
  are 
  tlie 
  answers, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  them, 
  to 
  the 
  

   questions 
  in 
  your 
  circular 
  No. 
  8, 
  United 
  States 
  Entomological 
  Commission: 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  1. 
  Don't 
  know 
  ; 
  have 
  no 
  information. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  2. 
  The 
  fly 
  appears 
  in 
  October 
  and 
  November 
  in 
  the 
  fall, 
  and 
  in 
  April 
  

   and 
  May 
  in 
  spring. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  8. 
  The 
  fly 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  here 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  ; 
  in 
  1878 
  it 
  did 
  great 
  

   damage; 
  don't 
  know 
  how 
  it 
  was 
  introduced. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  4. 
  Don't 
  know 
  how 
  many 
  broods 
  or 
  generations 
  are 
  observed 
  annually. 
  

   The 
  plants 
  are 
  dwarfed 
  in 
  the 
  fall, 
  and 
  fail 
  to 
  produce, 
  grain 
  at 
  harvest. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  5. 
  The 
  Mediterranean, 
  Red 
  Chaff, 
  Red 
  May 
  are 
  less 
  liable 
  to 
  be 
  dam- 
  

   aged 
  by 
  the 
  fly 
  than 
  any 
  we 
  have 
  tried 
  ; 
  don't 
  know 
  in 
  what 
  other 
  cereals 
  or 
  grasses 
  

   the 
  insect 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  develop. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  6. 
  Warm, 
  dry 
  fall 
  favors 
  its 
  injiTries. 
  Seasonable 
  weather 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  

   and 
  a 
  vigorous 
  growth 
  prevent 
  the 
  fly. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  7. 
  I 
  know 
  nothing 
  as 
  to 
  this 
  question 
  ; 
  the 
  last 
  crop 
  was 
  clear 
  of 
  the 
  fly. 
  

   Have 
  made 
  no 
  experiments. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  8. 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  data 
  by 
  which 
  to 
  answer 
  this 
  question. 
  

  

  Question 
  No. 
  9. 
  The 
  best 
  preventive 
  found 
  here 
  is 
  to 
  pasture 
  the 
  wheat 
  close 
  in 
  the 
  

   winter 
  with 
  sheep. 
  Burning 
  the 
  debris 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  is 
  also 
  resorted 
  to, 
  

   and 
  does 
  good. 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  specimens 
  of 
  wheat 
  afl'ected 
  by 
  the 
  maggots. 
  

   Respectfully, 
  

  

  ROBERT 
  McNEILLY, 
  

   Charlotte, 
  Dickson 
  County, 
  Tennessee. 
  

  

  A. 
  S. 
  Packard, 
  Jr. 
  

  

  1. 
  In 
  April 
  and 
  May. 
  

  

  2. 
  In 
  early 
  autumn, 
  at 
  and 
  before 
  seeding 
  and 
  warm 
  weather 
  ; 
  in 
  winter 
  and 
  early 
  

   spring. 
  

  

  3. 
  About 
  55 
  or 
  60 
  years 
  since 
  was 
  heard 
  of 
  in 
  New 
  England 
  before 
  appearance 
  here, 
  

   and 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  come 
  from 
  that 
  direction. 
  

  

  4. 
  Eggs 
  are 
  deposited 
  soon 
  after 
  wheat 
  is 
  up, 
  and 
  thereafter 
  as 
  the 
  weather 
  is 
  mild 
  

   and 
  not 
  wet. 
  Damage 
  not 
  strikingly 
  manifest 
  until 
  spring 
  and 
  early 
  after. 
  

  

  5. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  clear 
  that 
  any 
  variety 
  is 
  less 
  likely 
  to 
  suffer 
  injury 
  than 
  others. 
  No 
  

   other 
  cereals 
  or 
  any 
  grasses 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  subjects 
  of 
  its 
  depredations. 
  

  

  6. 
  Dry, 
  warm 
  weather 
  favors 
  its 
  injuries 
  ; 
  frosts 
  (before 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  safe 
  to 
  sow) 
  

   check 
  the 
  egg 
  deposits, 
  and 
  heavy 
  freezes 
  retard 
  their 
  development. 
  

  

  7. 
  None 
  troubled 
  my 
  crop 
  this 
  season, 
  and 
  I 
  could 
  make 
  no 
  examinations. 
  

  

  8. 
  I 
  hear 
  of 
  neighborhoods 
  where 
  the 
  loss 
  from 
  fly 
  is 
  estimated 
  at 
  23 
  per 
  cent. 
  Their 
  

   attacks 
  are 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  general, 
  and 
  some 
  years 
  not 
  any 
  whatever. 
  Their 
  injuries 
  are 
  

   less 
  frequent 
  of 
  late 
  years, 
  and 
  not 
  so 
  all-pervading 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  many 
  years 
  in 
  the 
  

   past. 
  

  

  9. 
  Some 
  contend 
  that 
  grazing 
  with 
  sheep 
  destroys 
  the 
  eggs, 
  but 
  Ihe 
  fancy 
  is 
  not 
  

   as 
  convincing 
  as 
  that 
  the 
  wheat 
  receives 
  a 
  greater 
  injury. 
  Sowing 
  at 
  or 
  near 
  frosts 
  

   is 
  the 
  only 
  preventive 
  that 
  has 
  general 
  accei)tation. 
  

  

  Very 
  respectfully, 
  

  

  EPH'M 
  LINK, 
  

   Greenville, 
  Greene 
  County, 
  Tennessee, 
  

  

  the 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY 
  IN 
  NEBRASKA. 
  

  

  West 
  Point, 
  Nebr., 
  February 
  23, 
  1881. 
  

   I 
  will 
  now 
  send 
  you 
  what 
  data 
  I 
  have 
  thus 
  far 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  gather 
  relative 
  to 
  the 
  

   Hessian 
  Fly 
  (Ceddomyia 
  destructor) 
  in 
  Nebraska. 
  

   Individually 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  but 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  fly. 
  

  

  