The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1875-10-06
ECTS INJURIOUS TO
WHEAT. :, 80

Insects ! Injurious sto wheat are
more or less numerous in all parts
of the, counsrs.' JnfortunstelH,
however,the greater portion Of these
pests are of small size; and there
fore readily escape notice until
their numbers, khaxe increased to
such an extent as to cause serious
losses to the farmer or dealers IN
this grain.
Some kinds conine their ravages
to the wheat plant while it is quite
small, as, for instance, The Hessian
fly (Cecidomyia destruetor), which
deposits its eggs in the wheat plant
during the Autumn, while another
brood Of the same attacks it again
in the Spring, the gsubs boring in
to the centre Of the stalk and caus-
ing it to wither and die. This
terrible pest Of our wheat fields was
first observed on Staten Island N
1776, and from this pointit appears
to have spread over the -eountry,
sometimes increasing to such an ex-
tent as to compe! farmers to abandon
wheat culture entirely for a nun-
Der of years in succession, and over
a wide range of territory, then again
disappearing probably through the
aid of parasitic enemies. It is only
a few years since the great wheat
growing regions Of Central New
York were devastated by this in
sect, : and 1t: viii doubtless appear
again in the same localities, so that
the farmer must 'beson The alert.
Another species Of the same
genus, known as the '<wheat uidge"
(Cecidomyiis tricit,s issa'so qise
common in many localities, aud We
have before US two, heads Of wheas
- =
received from Mr.. ". G. Littleton,
of Ti,pecanoe county, Ind, which
contsmsthe, ,papa Oft his pess& H6sl
habit Of this : last s I .napled seescies es is
quite different apxshe farmers the
female depositiug her eggs in the
heads IF WHEAT While lie It It IS ii bios !
som. The eggs. hatch in eight or
ten days, the maggots feeding upon
the pollen, also sacHng the Juices
of the young, soft kernels and
causing them toT shrixeI9 C2yAfter
reaching maturity the grubs de-
sce1d to the ground; forming mi
mute thin eocooas wisha whieAshes,
pass. the winter sappsaring again
in time to attack the wheat when
in bloom. Z These cecidomyias are
very small two-winged flies, but
they have natural enemies in still
more minute species Of four-winged
flies belonging tojthe.genps Psty
gastes. Were it not for the latter We
fear our farmers would soon have to
abandon wheat culture altogether;
but as the midge increases, its natu-
raEenemy also:hassan opportunity Of
multiplying; occasionally; however,
the wheat destroyers appear to get
the advantage for few years at
least, but their enemies soon be-
come strong enoagh IN numbers to
everpower and destroy them. e..
There is still another. insect
which is sometimes. very luxurious
to growing wheat. It IS generally
referred to as the ':joint-worm,"
from the appearance Of the mag
gots in or. near:: the joints on the
stems of the wheat. When abun-
dant, great numbers of the wheat
stalks die and break down soon af-
ter the heads appear. The name
of the. species which attack wheat
is Eurytoma hordei-:Hsrris: b + L.
Another species attacks rye III
a similar manner; another barley;
and as the pup@ Of all Of them
remain in the dry straw during
Winter, the best method Of check
ing their ravages is to burn over
the stubblein the FalI: land see that
all the straw from which the grain
is threshed is either fed out to
stock or rotted down in the barn
ward before warm weather in the
following Spring.
.-.L..T. " i&v.ts An NJ Is: