410 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
newly cleared, is because the soil has become exhausted, the 
temperature of the winters has changed, &c. But my researches 
the present season have impressed me with the belief that the 
insect depredators upon this grain, which have found their way 
into all parts of our country where wheat has long been culti¬ 
vated, are the sole cause of the present meagerness and uncer¬ 
tainty of this crop. Having been looking at the wheat midge 
and the Hessian fly only, in former years, other insects living at 
the expense of this grain had escaped my notice; and now, on 
turning my attention again in this direction, I have been aston¬ 
ished to find our growing wheat preyed upon by multitudes of 
different species of Chlorops, Oscinis , and Thrips, insects which in 
Europe have long been known as most inimical to the wheat 
crops there, but which have never hitherto been noticed on this 
side of the Atlantic. From the time that the blade shoots from 
the ground until the ripened grain is carried into the barn, it 
appears at every stage of its growth to be exposed to the attacks 
of one and another of these vermin. And with such a host of these 
enemies to withstand, our chief wonder is that this crop is not 
utterly devastated every year. Could it be released from them, 
it is evident wheat in all the old settled parts of our State and 
country would be as sure and productive a crop now as it was 
when our lands were newly cleared. Whether we shall be able 
to discover remedies or modes of cultivation by which their at¬ 
tacks may be prevented appears doubtful. Still, every one is 
aware it is highly important that the habits and transformations 
of each of these insects should be fully examined, and the infor¬ 
mation thus elicited should be diffused among the cultivators of 
our soil. That such knowledge will enable them to elude at 
least a portion of these depredators, in many instances, there can 
be no doubt. The following extract from the commencement of 
a letter from a gentleman in Ohio, written soon after the wheat 
harvest of 1855, shows what benefits result from knowledge of 
this kind. He says: “ I see from the Country Gentleman that 
you have become very familiar with the whole insect family. I 
think that when this subject is brought to bear upon agriculture, 
horticulture, &c., its usefulness will be unlimited. The farmers 
here are beginning to see the necessity of some knowledge of 
