110 THE CULTIVATOR. 
destitute of food, and thus affording the grub no harbor. Another 
method, by means of which I have entirely succeeded the present sea¬ 
son, notwithstanding the adjacent field of a neighbor was wholly de¬ 
stroyed, it may not be be amiss to notice. The field was an old sod of 
timothy and clover. Apprehending the danger of the cut worm, I de¬ 
layed ploughing until after the first of May, to give the grass a start, 
which grew strong, and was ploughed under, designing it as food for 
the cut worms; and my expectations were realized; the corn was 
scarcely touched by the worms, and the green grass, consisting almost 
wholly of soluble matter, from present appearances, will no detriment 
to the corn crop, but vice versa. 
The Hessian Fly, cecydomia destructor of the order diptera was per¬ 
haps never more destructive in the middle states than the present sea¬ 
son. There is a discrepancy in the opinions of writers on the history 
and habits of this insect, which amounts to vagary. One moot point, 
however, appears settled concerning it, i. e. it is entirely mistermed; 
instead of it being an exotic, it was never known in Europe, while its 
ravages were felt in America long before the revolution. The tipula 
tritici of Europe, is in modern nomenclature, termed cecydomia tritici, 
but known to be very different from our c. destructor in many respects. 
When the fty first made its appearance in Long-Island, in 1776, its 
ravages threatened the total abolition of the culture of wheat. An 
alarm was excited in England, that the fly wonld be imported in car¬ 
goes of wheat from this country. After the subject had occupied the 
privy council and Royal Society for some time, during which, despatches 
were forwarded to his majesty’s ministers abroad, and expresses were 
sent to all the custom houses, to search the cargoes, a mass of information 
was collected and published, which, instead of affording any correct in¬ 
formation, served only to prohibit the importation of American grain. 
It is to be doubted whether the fly ever was, or ever will be, the pri¬ 
mary cause of failure of the wheat crop. The season was the primary, 
and the fly merely the secondary, cause of failure the present year. 
There are sufficient quantities of seed-wheat infected every year by the 
fly, to produce a great devastation, if aided by the season. There were 
still fields in this region the present season of failure, which by good 
soil and culture, grew on undiminished by the warm drought of May. 
I harvested one field of twelve acres, low land, which, from facts al¬ 
ready ascertained, will average upwards of thirty bushels an acre; 
when in an adjacent field of high southern aspect, (which bore on much 
of its surface less than half the quantity of snow which lay on the for¬ 
mer, all winter and much later in the spring than the latter, which I 
note as an evidence that the wheat plant is never injured by snow, 
while the rye suffers much, it is remarkable to see writers not name the 
drought of May as the main or chief cause of the failure,) though sown 
of the same seed precisely, yet there were not ten bushels to the acre, be¬ 
ing infested with the fly, while the field above was entirely free. The 
field which failed looked very fine in the spring after the snow disap¬ 
peared, but was exceedingly injured by the drought in May, and never 
recovered, giving the larvae of the fly advantage of the sun and air to 
complete its transformations, and prepare it for destruction. Discove¬ 
ries deduced from microscopic observation, as well as other reasons, 
combine to establish the fact, that the fly desposites its eggs within the 
glumes of the florets of the wheat, in June; and if the wheat be sown 
too early, the larvae may injure the wheat plant in the fall; and again, 
if sowed very late, the growth will be feeble in the spring, and ex¬ 
tremely favorable to the transformation of the fly. In May the young in¬ 
sects are easily discerned by the naked eye, (having grown from the nits 
deposited in the grooves of the wheat grain,) lodged in the bulb of the 
plant, between the radicles and culm, or plum ala, in the pupae state, and 
soon after form chrysalis, after which, they being now in the perfect 
state, the young fly by means of its ovipositor, escapes through the 
bulb of the plant, nearly even with the surface of the ground, when the 
stalk, from the injury thus sustained, falls to the earth, or hangs pen- 
dantly over the adjacent grain. The wheat grain, at that season, is ge¬ 
nerally in the milky state, and the whole injured, by preventing the ma¬ 
turing process, is of course valueless. When the flies are very nume¬ 
rous, their devastation may be compared to that of a hail storm. If 
the habits of this insect be closely pursued, it will be found that they 
are closely confined to the fulfilment of the object of their destiny. 
After it escapes from its terrene abode, it exercises its sexual privi¬ 
leges, seeks the propagation of its species, and then, like all insects, in 
all probability, dies. To recapitulate, if the eggs of the fly be not de¬ 
posited on the grain of wheat, so as to be sown with the wheat, how 
can the pupa be formed in the bulb of the root, completely encased by 
the plant in its growth, forming as it were, a close cocoon about them? 
This fact must be obvious to every one who has examined the plant at 
the proper season; this single circumstance admitted, makes null the 
conjecture, that the fly is harbored about stack yards, in the stub¬ 
ble fields, &c. I never knew a heavy crop, or afield promising a heavy 
crop in the spring, and free from other causes, to be injured by the fly; 
hence, if wheat fields continue luxuriant up to the season in which the 
fly commits its depredation, they are never injured; but if the wheat, 
prior to that season, be retarded in its growth, or shows the premoni¬ 
tory indications of a light crop, then the fly may invariably be expected 
to appear. 
I have a remedy to suggest for the grievance ; our efforts must be 
renewed to improve our lands; confine wheat growing to wheat land, 
instead of straining soils never adapted to wheat, to produce it, and 
too often unaided by the only restoratives. Whereas, if land, intended 
for wheat, be properly cultivated, and sown in the most approved sea¬ 
son, after being well prepared by rich fossil and putrescent manures, 
there will be no other safeguard required against the ravages of the 
fly. WM. PENN KINZER. 
Spring Lawn Farm, Pequea, Lan. Co. Pa. Aug. 20th, 1836. 
PROPAGATING THE PEACH. 
J. Buel, Esq.—Every number of the Cultivator increases in interest, 
and bids fair to become one of the best agricultural papers in the coun¬ 
try. I have only been a subscriber about six months, and the numbers 
which I have received in that time I consider worth more than the 
price of the whole published numbers. 
The article in the 6th number, on grafting and budding apple trees, 
by Solomon Phillips, jr. is a valuable and interesting communication to 
the people of this section of the country, especially the part relative to 
budding, as it has not yet become in use here, or I believe its practica¬ 
bility known. 
In return for Mr. P.’s kindness, I will attempt to gratify his request 
about the culture of peach trees. 
1st. We gather the stones in the fall, which we bury about an inch 
under ground, (high and early ground is preferred, as the pits will 
sprout earlier in the spring,) spreading them singly, but as closely as 
you can, in order that the frost may have its full effect upon them. 
The best time for putting them in the ground is the last of October, 
but any time in October or November will do. 
2d. Preparing the ground for the young trees. Select a rich and 
middling dry piecce of ground, which if very rich, will do without ma¬ 
nuring, but if not, manuring is indispensable. Short and old manure is 
the best, and if some rich dirt be mixed therewith, I think, all the bet¬ 
ter. The manure should be spread along the furrows, which should be 
made with a plough four feet apart. If any other manure be added 
after, I would recommend lime or ashes. The ground should be plough¬ 
ed and harrowed well in the first place. 
3d. Transplanting. This should be done as soon as the pits begin to 
sprout in the spring, by dropping them in the rows already prepared 
for them, about 8 or 9 inches apart, and covered about an inch or more 
deep. Some nurserymen let the young sprouts grow 6 or 8 inches high 
before they transplant them, but the former way I think the best. The 
young trees should be ploughed and hoed as ofter as necessary, in order 
to keep them free from weeds and grass, say 3 to 4 times each, the last 
just before budding, and not afterwards that season. 
4. Budding. Select from the healthiest trees the scions of the kinds 
you wish to propagate, cut off the leaves and keep them in water, at least 
the butt ends, (those buds which have three leaves on are the b.est.) 
They may be kept in this manner 3 or 4 days. Then take the scion in 
your left hand, holding the butt end downwards, enter your knife about 
half an inch below the bud, and cut upwards about a quarter of an 
inch above the bud, taking the wood with it, and then cut across the 
twig deep enough for the bud to come off; then with the point of your 
knife take out the wood from the bud; then make a transverse cut in 
the stock to be budded, about 3 or 4 inches above the ground, (first 
trimming off the leaves and limbs about six inches above the ground;) 
from the middle of this cut make a slit about half an inch downwards, 
then with the point of your knife open the bark on each side of the slit, 
by the transverse cut; enter the lower end of the bud therein, bearing 
it down with your thumb and finger, till the top side of the bud comes 
just below the first transverse cut, then with bark or yarn wind above 
and below the bud, in order to keep it close to the wood. In 12 or 14 
days the bandages may be removed. The time of budding may be from 
the 20th of August to the 20th September, perhaps later sometimes. 
In the following spring, when the buds grow 3 or 4 inches long, the old 
stock should be cut off about an inch above the bud. In the following 
fall or spring you may set out your orchard, putting the trees about 20 
feet apart. The ground should be rich and dry, not springy. Manur¬ 
ing is indispensable, unless the ground be very rich. Corn or potatoes 
may be planted among the trees, with benefit to them for 3 or 4 years. 
Sir, if the above remarks contain any information worth publishing, 
you are at liberty to do so. FRANK. 
Middletown, Monmouth co. N. J. Sept. 5, 1836. 
Chillicothe, July 18, 1836. 
Mr. Jesse Buel —Dear Sir—In the June number of the Cultivator, 
we find a catalogue of the sale of Col. J. H. Powell’s herd of improved 
short-horn cattle, to which are appended the remarks of a “ corre¬ 
spondent,” which we think, in justice to the importation of the Ohio 
Company, requires some notice. 
