state agricultural SOCIETY. 
297 
fully convinced it was so with me in 1844. I go back to 16th day 
of September, before commencing sowing. If one of the worms 
can be found I will enclose it in this letter and mention I have 
done so. Yours truly, 
JOHN JOHNSTON. 
Hon. JOSHUA B. SMITH— Hauppauge, Suffolk Co., L. I. 
June 17 th, 1858. 
B. P. Johnson, Esq., 
Dear Sir—Your circular of May directed to me, proposing sev¬ 
eral inquiries in relation to the destructive ravages of the wheat 
midge, has been duly received. In answer to inquiry, first in 
what year was the wheat midge first noticed in your neighbor¬ 
hood ? From what direction did it appear to come to you ? Was 
it very destructive for a few years after its first arrival ? Was 
the growing of wheat abandoned, and for how long a time ? An¬ 
swer.—The wheat midge is unknown in my neighborhood, and so 
far as I have been able to ascertain, in my town and county. The 
answer to the first, renders one to the nine following needless. In 
answer to the eleventh inquiry, whether any damage to the wheat 
has been made by the Hessian fly. The wheat crop, until the 
past and present year, have generally escaped serious injury by 
the fly, for the past ten or twelve years. Last year it was again 
visible; and the present one the complaint is more general of its 
destructiveness ; some crops will be injured by it. To what ex¬ 
tent, I am now unable to say. I have sown the Mediterranean 
for the last twelve years, and have never seen any signs of the 
fly until the last and present years. 
Respectfully yours, 
JOSHUA B. SMITH. 
SAMUEL L. FULLER' — Conesus, Livingston Co., JVov. 12, 1858. 
Hon. B. P. Johnson, Secretary , fyc. : 
Dear Sir — In October, a son of Mr. J. S. Wadsworth handed 
me your circular in relation to the “ wheat midge,” “ Hessian fly,” 
and other depredators on wheat. 
The Livingston County Agricultural Society issued the enclosed 
circular, and circulated about one thousand among the farmers of 
this county. In reply, I have received six communications, elicit¬ 
ing no valuable information further than this: the early ripened, 
and quickly ripened wheat, escaped the best. 
