No. 150.] 
335 
of our most distinguished savans had degraded himself by a paltry 
attempt to forestall Mr. Say in giving to this species a technical 
name. 
Gen. John H. Cocke this year communicated his observations to 
the Albemarle Agricultural Society of Virginia. Having well as¬ 
certained that the fly deposits its eggs upon the blades of the wheat, 
at from a half to three inches from the central stalk, and that these 
remain therg four or five days before they hatch, he recommends 
feeding off the crop, by pasturing sheep upon it; thus destroying 
the eggs, and depriving the fly of its wonted place for depositing 
them. “A King William Farmer” dissents from this advice, and 
thinks covering the seed to the depth of three inches the best safe¬ 
guard against the fly. “A Frederick County Farmer” and Dr. 
Merriwether oppose this, and a controversy ensues, reaching through 
several communications in the Richmond Enquirer and National In¬ 
telligencer, and afterwards continued in the American Farmer, till 
in 1820 it was brought to a close by a valuable article from that 
distinguished agriculturist, the late James M. Garnett, ( American 
Farmer, v ol. ii. p. 174,) accompanied by an illustration, which would 
seem to clearly demonstrate the correctness of the statements first 
put forth by the King William Farmer. This subject will be fully 
considered in a subsequent part of this essay. 
In 1820, Edward Tilghman, of Maryland, described ( American 
Farmer, ii. 235) the place and mode of deposition of the eggs, he 
having in numerous instances watched the fly in the very act of 
ovipositing. At a later day Mr. T. has favored the public with a 
more full and exact description of this process, {Cultivator, \ iii. p. 
82). James Worth of Pennsylvania, also in 1820 minutely descri¬ 
bed from his personal observations, the situation of the egg, its 
hatching, and the journey of the worm down the leaf to its usual 
nidus, {American Farmer, ii., 180). 
In the second volume of the Memoirs of the New York Board of 
Agriculture, issued in 1823, is a communication (p. 169-171) on 
the Hessian fly, from Judge Hickock, who deems a fertile soil the 
best safeguard. In the third volume of the same work, published 
in 1826, (p. 326-338,) is a paper by the indefatigable secretary of 
