The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-12-13
The Hessian Fly.

THIS insect takes its name from the |
suppOsition that it was brought to this |
country in some straw by the Hessian |
troops during the Revolutionary War.
1t was first seen near the place of de-
barkation of those troops on Staten |
Island and spread inland at the rate of
twenty miles ayear. So great were its
ravages that in 1897 the cultivation of
wheat was abandoned in many places.
Minute parasites preying upon the
eggs. larve and pupae destroy a great
proportion of every generation of the
Hessian fly. Lately we hear from many
quarters that wheat fields are again in
tested with this pest to a great degree.
The body of the insect is about one
tenth of an inch long, the head attennal,
thorax and feet black; the hind body is
tawny, marked with black on each ring
and with fine grayish hairs; the legs
pale red or brownish and the wings
blackish. It generally natures two
broods in the course of year, appear
ing in spring and autumn. The pale
red eggs are laid lengthwise in the
creases of spring and winter wheat, to
the number of twenty and thirty on
leaf, soon after the plant. is above the
ground. In four or five days, if the
weather is warm, the eggs are Matched
and the larv@ crawl down the leaf to
the main stalk; then they fly themselves
just above the ground, head downward.
There they await their transformation,
nourishing themselves on the juices of
the plant, which they obtain by suction.
In about six weeks the full size is. at
tanned, when the skin turns a bright
chestnut color and gradually hardens.
In the beginning of this, the pupa state,
they resemble fiaxseed; in from sixteen
to twenty days the insect within loos-
ems itself from the leathern skin and
lies in it motionless grub. Here it
gradually advances toward the winged
state, and breaks through about the
1st of May. The perfect insects are
very active, although small, and fly
considerable distances in search of
grain. Severe remedies are best, and
when they are in the flaxseed state the
wheat must be destroyed. This can be
done by blowing it under deeply, which
will bury the flies beyond the power of
extricating themselves. This is not so
costly plan as allowing the Hessians
to mature, in which case not only is
the crop lost but the field becomes
center of infection for the whole coun-
try. In the early stages of the attack,
before the eggs are Matched, it is good
plan to turn the cattle into the field and
allow them to Craze it down. The
wheat may also be mown before the
eggs are Matched. Either plan will
keep the larvae out of the crown of the
plants. Intelligent farming and a prop
er rotation of crops would in a great
measure do away with this insect. A
careless farmer, who goes on year after
year raising wheat, and thus providing
the enemy with food, not only suffers
himself, but obliges his neighbors to
pay for his own bad farming. Many
of the eggs laid by the spring brood are
left in the stubble and remain un-
changed until the following spring. It
is best to burn the stubb1e in wheat,
rye and barley fields where the fly has
appeared, and afterward pillow deeply.
Sleeping the grain, rolling it in plaster
or lime and sowing the fields with wood
ashes, or any other methods Of secur-
ing rapid and vigorous growth, are
useful accessory means.-N. y Herald.