276 [Senate 
Mr. Shirreff upon another of these cannot but interest the reader. He 
says, “ Upon presenting four larva; (of the wheat-fly) to an ichneumon, 
it soon stung, or, according to Mr. Kirby, deposited an egg in each of 
their bodies, and stung one of them a second time. The maggot 
writhed in seeming agony, and straggled upon my thumb-nail, where 
it was again stung three times by the same fly ; and in a second strug¬ 
gle, both fell to the ground.” 
ARTIFICIAL MEANS FOR ARRESTING ITS RAVAGES. 
These may be divided into two classes, as they refer to the protec¬ 
tion of the grain from the fly when in its winged form and depositing 
its eggs; or as they directed to the destruction of the fly itself, in the 
previous stages of its existence. 
Several measures have been proposed, and some of them with much 
confidence and plausibility of reasoning, for protecting the wheat crop 
from this insect during the period of its blossoming. The more pro¬ 
minent of these I will advert to. 
The smoke of a number of smouldering fires, or of brimstone 
matches, in different parts, and particularly upon the windward side 
of an infested field, has been recommended. The known efficacy of 
smoke in repelling the musketoe renders it probable that this remedy 
would be of signal utility, were it not for the discouraging amount of 
labor that is required to make so thorough and protracted a use of it 
as would be necessary. 
It has been suggested that the anal follicles of the skunk (Mephitis 
americana, Desm.) might be extracted, and that yarn impregnated 
with the fluid contained in them, and suspended through wheat-fields, 
would, by its intolerable odor, banish the wheat-fly. I imagine that in 
carrying this suggestion into practice, the operator would be the great¬ 
est sufferer —“ unless my nose deceives me.” 
Sowing the field with lime at the time the wheat is in blossom, has 
been repeatedly, and by some with much confidence, urged. This re¬ 
medy has been much resorted to, and very conflicting statements with 
regard to its efficacy have been laid before the public. A simple ex¬ 
periment, directly to the point, is of more value than a thousand cases 
that tend to support any particular opinion ; and such an experiment 
I am prepared to narrate. Jarvis Martin, Esq., the owner of the infes¬ 
ted field repeatedly alluded to, at my suggestion, repaired to it one 
