288 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW YORK 
except in 1857, when he had a little over twelve bushels per acre; 
that owing mainly, however, to the great drouth of the previous 
autumn, and the cold and late spring of 1857. 
lion. Joshua B. Smith , of Suffolk county, says that the wheat 
midge is unknown in his neighborhood. The Hessian fly has 
done some injury. 
Hon. Samuel L. Fuller , of Livingston county, says a circular 
was issued by the agricultural society of his county, but few an¬ 
swers were received. The ravages of the fly have been very des¬ 
tructive ; dry lands escaped if any; Mediterranean wheat has suf¬ 
fered the least. 
Hon. James S. Wadsworth, of Livingston, writes that the midge 
appeared in Monroe and Livingston counties in 1854, to a limited 
extent; came from the east. In 1856, one-half to two-thirds of 
the crops of wheat on upland were destroyed, and nearly all on 
the flats. Worse in 1857; over two-thirds of the crop ; and in 
1858, very little to harvest of white wheat. 
Mediterranean wheat escaped generally, (from its being earlier 
as it is supposed,) perhaps one-fifth destroyed. There is no evi¬ 
dence that the midge was seen in the Genesee Valley before 1852, 
when it was seen in small numbers, in Monroe. The ravages of 
the midge has reduced the value of all the wheat lands in Wes¬ 
tern N. Y., at least forty per cent. Lands which sold readily at 
seventy dollars per acre, are now bought for forty dollars per 
acre. Mr. Wadsworth states that a respectable farmer, Mr. Cov- 
erdale, in Livingston county, lived, in 1828, on the St. Lawrence, 
forty miles above Quebec; saw the midge there that year, and 
had previously seen it in England, so that it is probable the midge 
was introduced there from England. 
Hon. Stephen Haight, of Dutchess county, writes that the midge 
appeared in that county about 1828, and steadily increased from 
year to year, being more and more destructive, for twelve to fifteen 
years, when the growing of wheat was mainly given up. In past 
two years, both spring and winter wheat have been grown to 6ome 
extent. Crops good, and no trouble with the midge. Uplands 
were invariably less injured by the insects than low lands. Mr. 
Haight is of the opinion that since abandoning' wheat, and turn¬ 
ing attention to other crops and grass, the farmers have secured 
a better profit from their farms than they ever did by growing 
wheat. 
Joseph Watson, of Wayne county, writes that the midge appear¬ 
ed in 1850 and 1851, and increased up to 1858. It has not en- 
