No. 150.] 
371 
15. Burning and plowing up the wheat stubble .—This measure 
was originally proposed by Judge Havens, and has been unanimous¬ 
ly approved of and strongly urged by several of the most intelli¬ 
gent writers since. Indeed, a slight examination can scarcely fail of 
impressing upon every one its utility, independent of the sanction of 
authority. Whoever will at, or soon after hai vest, inspect the stub¬ 
ble of a field that has been badly infested by the Hessian fly, will 
find these insects in their flax seed state lying one,* two, three or 
more, at the joints of perhaps half the straws of the field. What 
a trifling labor, or rather what a pastime will it now be to set fire to 
this dry stubble, and hereby inevitably consume countless thousands 
of these destroyers. This point appears so plainly evident, that no 
one, we think, will hesitate in pronouncing this remedy decidedly 
the most important and valuable of all. But a thought breaks in 
upon us, of such fearful import, that fancying we see the burning 
brand extended, in an instant more to send a sheet of vivid flame, 
leaping, hissing, and crackling over the fated field, we involuntarily 
shout, 
“ Stop! or thy tread is on an empire’s dust !” 
Of a truth, what a short sighted mortal is man, and how often are 
the words of the poet verified, that 11 a little knowledge is a dan¬ 
gerous thing.” Seeing his enemy chained to the stake, he exult- 
ingly rushes at once to fire the faggots, and lo, a dozen of his friends 
are immolated upon the same pyre ! Is it not a fact, that whilst by 
this measure we consume the Hessian fly by hundreds, we inevitably 
destroy its mortal foes by thousands I And that the very means 
which we thus resort to for averting a future calamity are the surest 
means that could be devised for bringing that calamity upon us ! 
If nine-tenths of every generation of the Hessian fly are destroyed 
by three or four other insects, who can calculate the value of the 
services which these latter are yearly rendering us ? And who, 
then, will be so inconsiderate and ruthless as to destroy nine of 
these useful parasites, iu order to exterminate one Hessian fly ! Yet 
this must, in most cases, be the result of burning the stubble of the 
wheat field. We commenced our account of this remedy impressed 
with a belief that it w r as the best that had ever been proposed ; we 
close it, persuaded that it is the very worst. 
