59 
namely, that seed slightly covered, dies whenever its blades are 
destroyed by the fly. It is only in an impoverished soil that it 
thus dies; in a rich soil, as has been already stated, its vitality 
continues, its roots are so well surrounded with nutriment that they 
readily sustain it, and its first shoots being destroyed, it sends up 
asecond set which grow unharmed. It thus performs the same 
operation which the King William Farmer contends, it can only 
do when deeply buried. Our specimen, from which the drawing 
(fig. A,) was taken, plainly shows this fact. The illustration is 
an exact copy from nature, of two shoots which were separated 
from a tuft of similar ones, all growing from one shallow coy- 
ered seed; and in every infested field which we have examined, 
myriads of similar specimens might have been gathered, whilst 
commonly only on knolls and other barren or dry parts of the fields 
were the plants found to be wholly destroyed, as they were repre- 
sented in the figures of the American Farmer. A fertile soil there- 
fore insures the same results which are claimed for a deep cover- 
ing of the seed. In both cases, the shoots which first appear are 
destroyed; another set appear afterwards, which are unharmed— 
not because the seed is buried too deep for the worms to crawl 
down to it, as the King William Farmer seems to infer, but be- 
cause there are no flies any longer abroad to deposite their eggs 
upon the leaves. The exact truth then, with regard to this mat- 
ter, we are firmly persuaded is as follows. In a meagre soil, the 
seed will die, whether it be covered slightly or deeply. In a less 
impoverished soil, ¢f the weather be dry in September as it fre- 
quently is, seed near the surface will often perish, when that which 
is deeply buried will survive. In a fertile soil the seed will sur- 
vive, whether it be covered shallow or deep. That suits of spe- 
cimens can therefore be easily procured which will appear to de- 
monstrate a state of things in every particular the very reverse of 
those figured in the American Farmer, scarcely admits of a doubt. 
Our conclusion then is, that the King William Farmer is measur- 
ably correct in his position, but by no means correct to the extent 
contended for. When the Hessian fly is present in any district, 
deeply covering the seed, especially if it be early sowed, will in 
