STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
293 
It lias appeared in rye and oats, but in those grains but little 
injury has been done. The rye crop ripens too early for them, 
the oat crop too late in the season. They seem to commit their 
depredations upon the grains immediately after the blossom falls 
off; and there seems to be but a few days in which they do the 
injury. I should think about the second and third weeks in July 
is their time of visitation. If wheat is ripe by the middle of 
July, in our climate, it is a little too forward for the insect, it 
being out of the milk before the insect appears. No variety of 
wheat has wholly escaped the midge; but from my experience 
and froip information from others, it is well settled with us that 
the Mediterranean wheat is the best. It ripens a week earlier than 
any other I have tried; I have begun ray harvest of that kind of 
wheat the 12th of July; other wheat sown in the same field, and 
alongside, I have often known to be a week later. On the low 
flats or bottom lands on this river, the midge has been the most 
destructive. On the high grounds back from the river they have 
done less injury. No remedies have proved successful against the 
ravages of the midge; lime has been sown in the morning, when 
the dew was on, when the midge first appears; but I believe the 
injury to the sower has been greater than to the midge. No para¬ 
site insect has been seen here, to my knowledge, which destroys 
the midge, 
I believe it is pretty well ascertained that all the insects and 
blights, which attack the industry of man through his crops, after 
a time disappear. The Hessian Jly has appeared at various times, 
since I have had some knowledge of farming. My recollection now 
extends back more than sixty years ; within that time the visits of 
the Hessian fly have not been very frequent, perhaps once in fif¬ 
teen or twenty years. By changing the time of seeding, and sow¬ 
ing very late, the Hessian fly soon disappears. The Hessian fly 
attacks the early sown wheat, and the midge the late sowed. 
Luckily, the two insects do not both appear at once; coming singly 
we must cheat the midge by sowing early , aud the Hessian fly by 
sowing late. 
For the last two years I have sowed the Mediterranean wheat, 
and sowed the first week in September, and have seen nothing of 
the midge in my fields. The last time the Hessiau fly paid us a 
visit, I changed my seeding time to the last week in September, 
and first week in October, and I saw uo more of the fly. 
Should the Hessian fly and midge combine their forces and 
attack the farmer at the same time, I suppose we should own beat, 
