34 
Its mode of feeding. We have hitherto sought in vain to as- 
certain, by ocular and microscopic examinations, how it is that 
the worm imbibes its nourishment from the stalk. To expose. it 
to view, we are obliged to place it in circumstances so unnatural 
to it, that it apparently refrains from feeding. That it “ gnaws” 
the stalk, as some writers in our agricultural papers, and some 
compilers of popular treatises inform their readers, is an error so 
gross as scarcely to deserve notice. Some have supposed that it 
absorbs its nourishment through the pores of its skin; but we in- 
cline to the belief that Dr. Lee’s opinion is nearest the truth of 
any that has been’ hitherto advanced—that it takes in its nourish- 
ment by suction, in a manner more analagous to the leech than 
any other familiar object. (Gen. Farmer, vii. 225.) 
Its effects upon the crop. The autumnal attack of the fly is in 
a double sense a radical one. Each particular shoot at whose 
root one or more of these larve nestles, is commonly destroyed 
by the time the worm has attained its growth. The presence of 
these worms is therefore readily detected by an examination of 
the young wheat in October or November. Individual shoots will 
be found here and there in the field, withered and changed to a 
light yellow color, (fig. At.) strongly contrasting with the rich 
green of the vigorous uninjured plants. (fig. A*.) The frost or 
some other casualty may cause the ends of some of the other leaves 
to be of a pale yellow color, but here the whole plant is of that 
hue; and where a field is badly infested this yellow “sickly” aspect 
is perceptible from a distance. On examining the withered plants, 
the worm, or flax seed if it has advanced to that stage, can be 
readily found. It issituated a short distance below the surface of 
the earth, at the crown of the root (fig. A§). One or two radical 
leaves start from this point, their bases forming a cylindrical sheath 
around the central or main shoot, which as yet is but in its infancy. 
It is within this sheath, at its base, that the worms repose, one, 
two, three, or more, and by imbibing the nutricious juices of the 
young shoot, cause it to wither and die. The mechanical pres- 
sure of the larvee, so frequently spoken of as impeding the circu- 
lation of the fluids of the plant, and hereby causing it to perish, 
