17G 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ August 25, 1B87, 
broods occur yearly, and the economy of the species is as follows, it 
being premised that the second brood is that of which we know more 
from the obvious results of its attacks. The autumn flies emerge in 
August or September from the pupae, which are almost invariably found 
above the second joint of the straw from below, and seek out the young 
Wheat or Barley (it is one of these the fly chiefly attacks) ; placing eggs on 
the sheath or young leaves, the larvae work their way gradually into the 
plants, which die off about the time the insects turn to pupae, in which 
state the winter is passed. Emerging about April, the next brood of 
flies finds the crop in an advanced stage of growth, and the larv® pro¬ 
duced in May and feed in, or between, the sheath and the stem. Here 
they lie in small parties of six or eight (fig. 22), 
and the stem, when they are increasing in size, 
bends at an angle and not unfrequently breaks 
at the point where the attack has been made, 
the ear if formed containing but a few dwarfed 
grains. By the time the corn is cut, or soon 
after, the insect has completed its larval ex¬ 
istence and is ready to journey elsewhere in its 
form of “ flax-seed ” during the autumn, for it 
does not seem probable that the pupae or “ flax¬ 
seed ” which are produced from the spring 
Wheat scatter to any distance. 
As full particulars concerning last year's 
visitation of the Hessian fly have appeared in 
this and many other journals, it is only needful 
to say that the first specimens noted in 1886 
were forwarded to Miss Ormerod from Barley 
fields near Hertford. Subsequent reports of its 
occurrence came from three other places in 
Hertfordshire, from Romford, Essex, and Luton, 
Bedfordshire. Later in the season the fly was 
found north of the Tweed near Inverness, 
and near Crieff, localities where its appear¬ 
ance is certainly singular. Though no complaints that I am aware of 
were made with reference to the spring brood on the early corn, it must 
have bred to some extent, for early in the summer of this year 
Wheat and Barley were found to be infected in several of the 
places which had produced the insect last year, and by degrees 
intelligence has come in of a number of fresh attacks, the 
districts being often wide apart, and as before both in 
England and Scotland. Mostly they are not spread over a wide 
area, I believe, except in South Lincolnshire, which has suffered con¬ 
siderably. It is not supposable that all these localities have been in¬ 
fected by the progeny of the flies noticed last year, we must conclude 
there have been new importations of the enemy. “ Where has the attack 
come from ?” asks Miss Ormerod, and Echo answers, “ Where 1” It is 
mysterious, but there can be no dispute that in the “ flax-seed ” or pupa 
state the insect must have come to us from the Continent or from 
America. Probability points to the former. That we should have 
escaped hitherto may be deemed an encouraging circumstance for the 
future, as we may hope the climate of Britain is not particularly favour¬ 
able for this fly, or it would have got a lodgment before, since the. pupae 
must have been brought over by accident. It is considered as proved 
they do not come in grain ; they must therefore travel in the straw, 
either when that article is imported as cargo, or when it is used for 
packing. An examination of what is called “corn rubbish” has yielded 
“ flax-seeds,” so that this medium may convey the insect from one 
locality to another in Britain. As yet, however, I cannot say it is 
clearly made out how pup® contained in foreign straw can be distri¬ 
buted over our corn fields. One way that has been suggested is this—To 
London, and to some other towns, quantities of goods are sent from 
various countries of Europe packed in straw, the surplus of this is sold 
off by wholesale houses, and next reaches stables, where it is finally con¬ 
verted into manure, and then is made use of by farmers or market gar¬ 
deners. If so, we ought to have the Hessian fly about Kent, especially 
near the Thames and the Medway, for we receive much London manure. 
We are also in frequent communication with the Continent, but I have 
no report of it at present. Possibly the Kentish soil does not produce a 
growth of Wheat and Barley agreeable to the insect, owing to its being 
generally chalky, and it may thrive best where the plants are on clayey 
or loamy soil. And it has been surmised that the Hessian fly is a lover 
of moisture ; if such be the case, then we may presume that had 1887 
been a wet instead of a dry summer, we should have found a greater 
abundance of the insect. 
However matters may be abroad, our peculiar circumstances indicate 
that, in this island, we ought not to have much difficulty with the foe. 
Mr. Palmer, who has had a good deal to do with the Hessian fly on his 
Hertfordshire farms, advocates high cutting, so that the insect may be 
left in the stubble ; this is afterwards to be collected and burnt. In 
theory this is excellent, but in practice the plan is inconvenient to 
carry out. Others have advised burning off the stubble under any 
circumstances where a crop is affected, because it is sure to contain 
some “ flax-seed.” < The Americans are understood to disapprove of 
this, because in this way not only is the fly killed, but sundry parasitic 
enemies that prey upon it are destroyed too. Late sowing is one of 
the most effective means of stamping out a brood, the autumn flies 
having then, on emergence, no young plants to deposit eggs upon, and 
die off harmless. Ploughing over infected fields directly after the crop 
has been removed will kill some pup®, and the siftings of threshing or 
dressing machines should be burnt, as recently advised by the Govern¬ 
ment Commissioners. Certain varieties of Wheat are hard-stemmed. 
These are seldom attacked by the fly, and in any case, whatever inter¬ 
feres with the healthy growth ot the crop, subjects it to the danger of 
being infested. Another important point is to attend to the rotation of 
crops. When cereals have been visited by the insect, the next year 
leguminous or root crops should be grown on the fields, if possible. 
Where the occurrence of the pest amongst young Wheat is known or 
suspected, it should be dressed in spring with lime, soot, sulphur, or 
even salt, applied when the plants are moistened by dew or rain.—■ 
Entomologist. 
> | To the above interesting account of this destructive enemy to impor¬ 
tant crops we append illustrations, representing its various forms, with 
Fig. 23. 
explanatory notes, for which we are indebted to Messrs. E. Webb and 
Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge, in whose farm seed catalogue the figures 
appear with a history of the enemy, and suggested methods for pre¬ 
venting its attacks. 
“ In the illustration (fig. 23) we have shown natural size at A, B, C, 
and D, the eggs, maggots, chrysalids, and perfect insect belonging 
to the Hessian fly. Underneath at E, F, G, and H, the same stages of 
growth are shown enlarged five diameters. The eggs are shown at A, at 
the base of a Wheat leaf ; at B the maggots, often six or eight in number, 
have emerged from the eggs, and are shown as grown to fully mature 
examples ; at C the maggots have fixed themselves close to the stem, and 
after a lapse of five or six weeks have taken on the brown chrysalis or 
‘ flax-seed ’ condition ; at D the perfect Hessian fly is shown as it emerges 
from the chrysalis— i.e., when the latter is about ten days old. The 
mischief is caused by the maggots, which fix themselves on the young 
corn, or when the corn is older, near the three lowest joints of the stem 
or close to the root, and there suck the juices of the plant. The effect of 
this injury is that young plants are killed, and the stems of older plants 
are so greatly weakened that the ears only produce a few grains at 
most, and the corn stem itself commonly bends abruptly down to the 
ground, either from the root or from one of the joints a little above it.”] 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. 
Lit. 51° 82' 40" N.; Ling, 0°8' 0" W.; Altitude, U1 feet. 
DATE. | 9 A.M. | IN THE DAY. 
1887. 
August. 
Barome¬ 
ter at 32® 
and Sea 
Level. 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
Direction 
of Wind. 
Temp, of 
soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
Rain 
Dry. Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass 
Inches. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
Iu. 
Sunday . 
14 
29.997 
57.6 
51.5 
N.W. 
64.7 
68.0 
52.0 
118.2 
51.7 
_ 
Monday. 
15 
30.053 
57.7 
519 
N.E. 
64.3 
71.2 
42 5 
98.4 
40.3 
_ 
Tuesday .... 
16 
29.770 
59.6 
55.4 
N.E. 
633 
65.7 
53.2 
80.4 
52.0 
0.609 
Wednesday.. 
17 
29.789 
56 7 
55.6 
E. 
62 2 
66.2 
53.2 
92.6 
53.0 
1.437 
Thursday.... 
18 
29.877 
59 2 
54.7 
N. 
60.6 
66.4 
51.6 
105.7 
50.6 
Friday . 
19 
29.952 
57.5 
53.9 
N.W. 
60.2 
67.8 
48.8 
1146 
45 0 
_ 
Saturday ... 
20 
29.881 
54 6 
52.4 
N.E. 
59.8 
66 .4 
51.4 
105 8 
50.2 
0.062 
29.903 
57.6 
53.6 
622 
67.4 
50.1 
102.2 
49.0 
2.108 
REMAKES. 
14th.—Fine, bright, and cool; cold at night. 
15ill.—Bright early, but cool; fog, unusually dense for the time of year, from 930 td 
10.30 AM , and hazy after—a regular autumn morning; fine afternoon. 
16th.—Dull all da? with spots of rain. 
17th.—Heavy rain from midnight to 1A.M., and from 4 30 to 6 A.M.; dull showery morning; 
fine afternoon, with some sunshine: thunder commenced about 5.30 P.M., and from 
6 30 to 9 an exceptionally severe thunderstorm prevailed, with 1*42 iu. of rain. 
This was the first rain of the month. 
18th.—Fine and pleasant and generally bright; lightning in evening. 
19th.—Fine and pleasant, though cloudy at times, especially in the afternoon. 
20th.—Overcast early, cloudy morning, then bright t ill about 4 P.M., followed by a heavy 
shower and unsettled evening. 
A variable and unsettled week, terminating a period of ten successive weeks with a 
temperature above the average, being 7® colder than the preceding week, and about 8® 
colder than the average. The rain on the 16th terminated a dry period of seventeen days, 
aud broke up the second drought of the summer.—G. J. SYMONS. 
