73 
may be entirely protected, while hick of such attention may expose them 
to serious damage. 
In the Diptera, Ave may consider the Crane liies as having an impor- 
tant relation to grass crops, but they have not received sufficient atten- 
tion in this country to enable us to give very satisfactory details of 
their life history, or to present any established method of attack upon 
them as pasture pests. Prof. Webster says : " Of the species studied, 
there is not one the ravages of which can not be almost entirely pre- 
vented in young wheat by plowing the ground during late August or 
early September, and there is every reason to believe that if the fall 
growth of clover is kept mowed or grazed off during September and 
October little trouble will likely follow from the depredations of the 
larvae the following spring." The Clover-seed Midge and the Clover- 
leaf Midge, are well-known destructive forms, and in most localities 
where they were destructive years ago reports indicate that the 
parasites are now quite effectual in keeping them in check. In locali- 
ties where they are still destructive the early recommendations regard- 
ing the cutting early of the first crop may be considered as useful, but 
there seems to be some lack of success in this method as generally 
applied. Some farmers prefer to pasture their clover fields during the 
first part of the season, on the ground that they prevent the develop- 
ment of the first brood, but if this is adopted, it would seem to me 
desirable to allow the clover to head and the midges to deposit their 
eggs, then the turning on of a large number of cattle would insure the 
destruction of the larvae. I might here call attention to a prevailing 
opinion that the midge may be transported* in clover seed. My own 
observation is that the midges contained in the clover seed are totally 
dry and lifeless and do not revive with moisture. It is possible that if 
they were far enough advanced to assume the pupa stage they might 
be able to withstand the dryness of the stored seed, but practically this 
seems not to occur. 
The Meromyza americana though recognized as a wheat pest has been 
observed to affect grasses, and is considered in this relation by Mr. 
James Fletcher. 1 
Among the Coleoptera the Elateridae furnish us a striking example 
of adaptation to life in sod land, numerous species being found in grass, 
and while their depredations are not noticeable because of the under- 
ground attacks upon the roots of the plants, we can not doubt that 
they form a serious drain upon the vitality of the crop. The admirable 
studies of these insects at the Cornell Experiment Station detailed in 
Bulletin Xo. 33 are the most exhaustive investigations yet made of this 
insect. They are generally supposed to require about three years in 
their development, and consequently we may expect little damage from 
them in new pastures. They become very abundant in old sod land, 
and where such ground is plowed at such time as to favor the further 
j Report of Entomologist Cent. Exp. Farm (Canada), 1889, pp. 66, 67. 
