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it did more or less injury all over the State of Illinois, while in the 
central parts of Maryland the crops, in many instances, were ren¬ 
dered totally worthless. “In Georgia, moreover, its ravages in the 
counties around Millegeville are said to have been dreadful; whole 
fields were totally destroyed, and others yielded not more than a 
fourth of an ordinary crop.” 
In 1816, in the upper counties of Georgia, it was said “the fly 
has committed such ravages upon the wheat as scarcely to leave 
enough seed for another year.” Throughout the State of New York 
it was destructive this year; in the western section the loss from 
this insect was estimated at not less than 500,000 bushels. In 
Maryland this same year (1816), as recorded by Fitch, “so great 
ravages have not been committed by the Hessian-fly since 1817. 
On some of the best land wheat has been plowed up, and other 
portions are so much injured that they will not be worth harvest¬ 
ing. At least one-half of the crop of Talbot county has been de¬ 
stroyed.” And in the upper counties of Georgia it is said “the fly 
has committed such ravages upon the wheat as scarcely to leave 
enough seed for another year.” 
In 1817 the losses were generally widespread but light, while in 
1819 it was destructive in some of the counties in New York, and 
especially in Ohio. From this date until 1853 it was not destruc¬ 
tive, but this year it “committed great ravages in some parts of 
Pennsylvania.” In 1851 it was destructive in Aroostook county, 
Maine, as well as in Michigan. 
From 1855 to 1880 the Hessian-fly attracted little attention from 
the agricultural community. In 1860 the fly “had reached as far 
west as Iowa and Minnesota, and in 1863 the wheat-fields along the 
Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad promised nothing because of the 
ravages of this pest.” (Prof. Cook.)* In 1866 it is reported to have 
occurred in Maryland, Delaware and Ohio, and in 1868, according 
to a writer in the American Entomologist, about Fond du Lac, Wis., 
“much of the wheat crop was damaged by it.” 
In 1871 it was generally prevalent throughout the Middle States 
from South and North Carolina and Virginia to Missouri northward; 
also occurring in Kansas, Georgia and Minnesota, and in 187*2 and 
1873 was destructive and widespread in Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois and Eastern as well as Western Virginia, as well as in 
Michigan, “as also in the States south and west” of the last-named 
commonwealth. 
In 1874 it was widespread, but much less destructive; in 1865 and 
1876 it was especially destructive in Missouri, Pennsylvania and 
Virginia. In 1876 “it appeared in force in many of the southern 
counties of Michigan, reaching as far north as Mason, in Ingham 
county, causing much destruction.” (Professor Cook.) 
In 1877 the losses again became heavy over a large part of the 
wheat area. At Lawrence, Kansas, the early-sown wheat “suffered 
a good deal from the ravages of the Hessian-fly.” At Gardner, 
Kansas, all early-sown wheat “was full” of the “flaxseed” of the 
*In his seventh report, written apparently in 1862, Dr. Fitch remarks: “We hear of it 
at the present time as very destructive in Illinois and some of the contiguous States, the 
crop in many wheat-fields being totally ruined by it.” 
