207 
the sap. Of course, when six or a dozen of these comparatively 
large flaxseeds are lodged under the base of the leaves the plant 
turns yellow and dies, as if the roots had been affected. 
How a field of winter wheat may be attacked and affected by the 
Hessian-fly may be seen by reading the following account in the 
Cultivator and Country Gentleman: 
“Last fall the appearance of the wheat plant on different fields 
and locations was very different. On strong and level lands, 
little injury was shown. Hilly fields, or where there was a ridge 
or worn point, or where the rock cropped nearer the surface, 
the wheat appeared injured or dead, as also when sown after spring 
grain, particularly oats. That the fly either enters the ground or 
remains in the dry stubble till the size of the wheat affords a lodg¬ 
ment, appears true. As an instance, I note the following facts: An 
acre of potato ground of 1876 was sown to oats in 1877. It was in 
fair condition, and a heavy crop was secured. Surrounding this 
piece of oats on three sides was a meadow, the highway bordering 
the other side. A good crop of hay was taken in June, and the 
field was all plowed in ’July. The after cultivation was the same, 
putting the field in an excellent condition for the crop. Seeding 
was through early in September, and in a few days the whole field 
was nearly covered with the growing wheat, and was very much 
admired, both for the beautiful green and its superior culture. All 
at once the wheat on the oat stubble was turning very yellow, in 
strong contrast to the deep green on the surrounding meadow. In 
the hollows, on the accumulated wash of ages, the wheat was very 
large and kept green and growing; while on the sharp points of 
knolls and hard clay ridges, it was nearly gone. On a piece of new 
land near by, where never a kernel of grain was grown before, no 
fly or injury could be seen. 
“The appearance of the fly was general, as soon as one or two 
leaves gave them a lodgment. Owing to the superior warmth and 
moisture of the entire fall months, wheat sowed on strong land 
tillered largely. The insects took the first tille~ and stuck to it, 
while two and even four others came out and covered the ground. 
On poorer parts of the field the plants could not tiller so much, 
and here the injury showed most. Up to this date the crop has 
wintered well, a deep layer of snow now keeps insects and wheat 
alike. About the first of May this entire brood will be ready to de¬ 
posit their eggs, and they will number millions.” 
That a field of wheat may recuperate after a favorable winter, 
and how such a field looks early in the following June, is well 
brought out by the following extract from the Prairie Farmer: 
“The early sown wheat, that was badly eaten by the Hessian-fly last 
fall, but which has been apparently entirely recuperated by the re¬ 
markably favorable winter and spring just passed, is more seriously 
damaged by the insect than many farmers are probably aware of. 
I visited to-day a thirty-acre field, sowed on the 5th, 6th, and 7th 
days of September. Early in October it looked very badly—was yel¬ 
low and showed bare ground in many places, and the plants for a 
long time seemed to be dwindling and growing smaller. The fine 
spring, however, brought it out apparently all right. It now stands 
