1891 
tol 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
ing it a short distance, varying from one-half inch to one 
inch from the ground. See Fig 217, c. If the wheat were 
growing wild, the winter winds would cause the stalk to 
break off at this point: and thus the insect after it had 
reached the adult stage in the following year could easily 
escape ; while bnt for this cut, it would be very liable to be 
imprisoned within the straw. But under ordinary circum¬ 
stances the straw is cut by the reaper before it is broken 
off at this point, and consequently that breaking off does 
not occur. If, however, there is a strong wind just before 
the harvest and after the straws have been cut in this 
manner by the insects, they are very liable to break off ; 
the lodging of the grain may, therefore, be largely due to 
the injuries of this insect. In one field just before the 
harvest I observed a large number of isolated straws lying 
in a horizontal position; there was not the general break¬ 
ing down of the grain characteristic of wind and rain ; but 
distributed through the grain that was standing there 
were a large number of isolated straws that were lodged. 
A careful examination showed that this breaking down of 
the grain, in 45 per cent of the cases, was directly due to 
the injuries of this insect. In many cases the straws had 
been broken off a considerable distance above the ground, 
and before the larva had made the characteristic circular 
cut near the root. An exami. ation of these straws showed 
that the larva had eaten all or nearly all of the softer inner 
part of the straw for a short distance, thus making a weak 
place which was easily broken. As a rule, however, the 
larvae obtain the greater part of their nourishment by 
tunneling the joints of the straw and do not eat enough of 
the stiaw In any place to cause it to break until they make 
near the ground the circular cuts described above. 
After the circular cut has been made, the larva fills the 
cavity of the straw just below it for a short distance with 
a plug of borings. Fig. 217, b. Between this plug and the 
lower end of the cavity of the straw there is a place, meas¬ 
uring about half an inch in length, Fig. 219, e. It is here 
that the insect passes the winter. Immediately after cut¬ 
ting the straw and making this plug the larva makes a 
cocoon by lining the walls of this space with a layer of 
silk. Fig. 218, a. This layer is thin but very firm and 
more or less parchment-like; it can, however, be broken 
with slight difficulty, being somewhat brittle. 
Within this cocoon, which remains in the stubble after 
the grain is cut, the insect passes the winter, in the larval 
state. It changes to a pupa during March or April; and 
sometime during May the adult insect appears. 
The exact date of the appearance of the insect depends 
upon the nature of the weather. This year from pupae 
collected on the 23d of April and brought into the Iu- 
sectary, the adults emerged from the 8th to the 10th of 
May ; while the insects left in the fields were 10 days later 
in emerging. 
The adult insect is a four-winged fly belonging to the 
order Hymenoptera, the order that includes the bees, wasps 
and ants ; and it is a member of the family Tenthredinidao 
of this order, a family comprising the insects commonly 
known as Saw flies. This popular name refers to the fact 
that in this family the female insects are furnished with a 
more or less saw-like organ. This rises Dear the caudal 
end of the body, and is the ovipositor. By means of it the 
insects are able to make Incisions in the tissues of plants 
for the reception of their eggs. 
The form and appearance of the adult are represented at 
Fig. 219. In this stage it is of a shining black color, 
banded and spotted with yellow. The male measures one- 
third of an inch in length; the female two-fifths of an 
inch. 
Soon after the adults emerge from the stubble, they pair 
and the females begin to oviposit. Thus In our breeding- 
cages, the adults which emerged from the 8th to the 10th 
of May, began to pair on the 10th and the females were 
ovipositing od the 13ch. 
The appearance of the insects in large numbers in the 
field took place four or five days before the heads of wheat 
began to appear, i. e , before they began to project from 
the sheath formed by the upper leaf. But it was not until 
the latter date that the flies had migrated to the wheat 
fields in considerable numbers. It will be noted that as 
the insect winters in the stubble of wheat, and that as in 
this region one crop of wheat rarely follows another, it is 
necessary for the adults, when they emerge, to migrate a 
greater or less distance in search of a wheat field, in which 
to oviposit. We found that the females migrated to the 
wheat fields first; but they were soon followed by the 
males. 
In our breeding-cages the females laid many eggs in the 
same stalk. This was to be expected, owing to the large 
number of insects confined with a small amount of grain; 
but I was surprised to frequently observe a female lay an 
egg and then move down the same stalk two or three 
inches and repeat the operation without an effort to seek a 
fresh stalk. 
Although many eggs were laid in some of the stalks in 
our breeding cages, in no instance did more than one larva 
become fully grown ; and no trace of the other larvae could 
be found. I have found In the fields stalks containing two 
larvae, but they were separated by a joint of the straw. In 
no instance, after all the joints of a straw had been tun¬ 
neled, have I found more than a single larva. It is prob¬ 
able that where more than ona egg is laid in a stalk, the 
strongest larva destroys the others. 
In no case did I find any external indication of the pres¬ 
ence of a larva in a wheat stalk until the larva was nearly 
fully grown, and had tunneled the stalk down to the first 
joint. At this time there is frequently a discoloration of 
the stalks just below the injured joints. This was observed 
during the first week in July. The wheat had then reached 
its full height and the grain was in the milk. 
At this time there were observed scattered through the 
field heads of wheat which were yellow and contained no 
grain. These dead heads corresponded in appearaope ex¬ 
actly with those described by Her pin in the extract quoted 
below. I carefully examined many of these stalks ; and 
found that in no case was the injury due to Cephus pyg- 
mieus. In most cases the heads had been killed by a 
species of thrips which sucks the juice from the stalk, in the 
tender portions, within the sheath of the upper leaf, just 
above the upper joint. This causes the stalk to shrivel at 
this point, and all above the injury to die. This disease of 
the wheat is similar to the common one of grass ; but the 
thrip which produces it is larger than that infesting grass 
and is further distinguished by having Its antennae marked 
by dark rings. 
Although this saw fly borer has not bepn previously ob¬ 
served in this country, it Is a well known European species. 
It has been described by both English and Continental 
writers; and in France especially it has been considered a 
very serious pest. One writer says “ If you traverse a field 
of wheat or rye a week or a fortnight before harvest you 
may observe a greater or less considerable number of the 
stems the straight and whitened ears of which elevate 
themselves above the others, and appear to have attained 
their perfect maturity. They form a striking contrast 
with the neighboring plants which are still very green ; 
and the heavy ears filled with grains are inflexible and 
bent towards the earth whilst the others are entirely 
empty, or contain only a very small number of grains, 
which are for the most part shrunk and horny.” The 
same writer In referring to the circular cut made by the 
larva before spinning its cocoon states that: “ In conse¬ 
quence of this section, the straw, having no more sus¬ 
tenance, breaks off at the foot and falls to the ground 
when the wind becomes a little strong ; the field then pre¬ 
sents the same appearance as if It had been traversed in 
every direction by sportsmen or by animals.” 
In this country, according to my observations, the injury 
to the wheat by this insect produces results somewhat dif¬ 
ferent from those just described. I found the same lodg¬ 
ing of the wheat caused by the circular cut near the root; 
but this lodging of the grain appears to be the chief injury 
here. 
I did not find that the presence of a larva in the stalk 
caused the complete destruction of the seed described by 
European writers. In fact, in most cases, the grain shelled 
from a certain number of infested heads weighed more 
than the grain shelled from the same number of non-in- 
fested heads taken from the same bundle In regular order 
after the infested ones had been removed. 
This was at first very puzzling. It seemed to point to 
the absurd conclusion that the presence of this borer with¬ 
in a stalk increased the amount of grain produced by that 
stalk. It was noted, however, that the infested stalks 
were almost Invariably large, healthy ones, with good, well- 
filled heads. When we recall the fact that the laying of 
the eggs tikes place while the wheat Is still small, and 
that a stalk must be large enough to contain a hollow of 
considerable size before it is suitable for the development 
of a larva, it will be seen that the stalks infested will natur¬ 
ally be those that are the largest early in the season; while 
the stalks that are backward in their development, and 
consequently will produce smaller heads, will escape the 
attack of the insect. Therefore, a comparison of heads 
from infested stalks with heads from stalks of average size 
will not indicate the results of the presence of the insect. 
Still, as I have already said, it appears that with us the 
chief injury caused by the insect is the lodging of the 
grain. 
The most obvious method of combating the insect Is to 
attack it while it is in the stubble, that is to say, sometime 
between the wheat harvest and the first of the following 
May. If the stubble can be burned in the autumn the 
larvae in it can be destroyed. The same thing could be 
accomplished by plowing the stubble under, which would 
prevent the escape Qf the adult flies. But as it is customary 
in this region to sow grass seed with wheat, I fear that 
the plowing under of infested stubble would rarely be 
practicable; and it is also questionable if the burning 
of the stubble could be thoroughly done without destroy¬ 
ing the young grass. 
It seems probable, therefore, that if this Insect becomes 
a very serious pest, it would be necessary, in badly infested 
regions, either to sow grass seed with oats and burn or 
plow under all wheat stubble; or to suspend the raising 
of wheat for one year, in order to destroy the insects by 
starvation. 
THE SUCCESSFUL CREAMERY BUSINESS. 
Causes of Failure or Success. 
That the creamery has become a necessity to the best in¬ 
terests of the mass of dairymen and is now a permanent 
institution is without question. As friend Gould has 
stated, “The creamery is supplying private customers at 
their doors with fresh butter,” thereby extending its busi¬ 
ness where the private dairyman thought he had a 
monopoly. The bankruptcy and idleness of many cream¬ 
eries are not due to any fault in thesystem, but invariably 
to some of the following causes: 
Many men without the slightest knowledge of the busi¬ 
ness, men who perhaps never owned a cow or bad any ac¬ 
quaintance with the dairy business, are Induced by some 
sleek-tongued agent of a firm dealing in creamery supplies 
to build a creamery or to invest in a plant that the concern 
will build and equip, showing, of course, on paper what 
a profitable investment it will be. If the important sub¬ 
ject of a sufficient milk supply should be thought of, he 
will assure the innocent listener that it will surely be 
double the next season, for as soon as the farmers learn 
that they are to have a factory they will greatly increase 
the number of their dairy stock. Very often the import¬ 
ance of a proper location is not taken into consideration 
as regards good and abundant water, drainage, etc. From 
my observation I think more failures are recorded against 
the cream gathering system than against all others com¬ 
bined. It seemed to be one of the chief points of the busi¬ 
ness to load the creamery men and farmers with a large 
and useless lot of setting cans, and it is not long since 
those interested in this system declared that the separator 
was a failure and that separator butter would not keep, 
etc. One writer in a prominent Ohio paper must certainly 
have lost sleep in discovering language strong enough to 
condemn the separator system. The upstairs rooms of 
many idle creameries, and many that are now running 
with centrifugal machines, can testify as to what the trou¬ 
ble was—too much useless stock Yet there are many 
cream-gathering creameries in successful operation and 
there is room for more ; but one of the worst frauds ever 
perpetrated on the farmer and one sure to result in failure 
was in inducing him to buy a lot of setting cans—I care 
not what style they were—by assurances that all he 
needed was a box or tank to set them in and to change the 
water odcb. He was told that no ice would be required, 
and that the creamery would be complete with this outfit. 
Having served my time at the pump handle, I know 
whereof I speak. I have alt-o taken the skim-milk from 
such a settiDg and run it through the separator and thereby 
learnt just how ineffective the creaming was. 
Let me present some of the important and necessary 
things in the construction of a creamery. The first and 
all-important item is a sufficient number of cows and an 
assurance that their milk can be had. From 300 to 400 
cows is the least to be thought of to start a paying busi¬ 
ness. Then one must decide on what system will be adopt¬ 
ed ; if the dairymen are supplied with creamers and ice¬ 
houses and are prepared to furnish good, clean, pure cream 
of uniform quality, then the cream gathering system is all 
right, and less money will be required to start the business. 
When one is satisfied as regards what is wanted he must 
get a practical man who knows just what is needed and 
will buy no more, to arrange the location and construc¬ 
tion, make a list of the supplies needed, attend to the 
plumbing and many other details that ODly a practical per¬ 
son knows or thinks of. A good location as regards good 
and abundant water, drainage, access to markets, etc., 
etc., is important. If separators are to be used, the boiler 
and engine should be first-class. This is very important 
in the use of separators, as poor machinery is a constant 
source of annoyance and loss. These and the building 
should be large enough to accommodate all expected in¬ 
crease in the business. I would not advise less than two 
separators to start with, as business for no more than one 
will not pay. In the construction of the building a good- 
sized ice house of no less than 100 tons’ capacity must be 
provided ; for this quantity, with proper arrangements and 
good water supply might be sufficient for two years. In 
the list of supplies include a Baocock milk tester with the 
understanding at the start that milk will be paid for only 
on the basis of the butter fat shown by this implement. 
Certainly no creamery or cheese factory should think of 
starting business on the pooled milk basis. It should cer¬ 
tainly be easier to commence in the right way than to 
change to it afterwards. Even though one cannot or does 
not pay by the test at first, he should get one just the 
same, as its known presence has a wonderful effect on the 
richness of a vat of milk. The kinds and styles of machin¬ 
ery-separators, churns, butter-workers, etc —will not be 
considered in this article, but, as with everything else, the 
best is the cheapest. Buy no more than is needed; for it 
is easier to buy on an increasing business than to pay bills 
on a “deadduck.” 
When all is complete, the success then will depend on 
the mauagement, and it is much better if one man—pref¬ 
erably the butter-maker—is capable of attending to this, 
and when I describe what such a man should be to manage 
the affair, make and market the butter, attend to the 
clerical work, etc., the reader will probably say that we 
will have to look “aloft” for him, for he must be strictly 
