The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1885-06-11
THE WHEAT PEs7,

1 ~ S1S Editor OF The News:
as there Is much talk at this tim
about the HsasiaA fly, (cecidomySa d.
stTTet0T-sAYl probably q few word
Hnoot 1t, compiled from Fitch, Packarl
. Riley, would not be amiss.
74Ae HesSian fly instead of taxing n,
It's abode in the wheat heads and nour
Ahing itself on the kernaIs.. makes n
attack al the root and lower par. of tn
stalk, thus destroying not the seed mere
~, but thes whole plant.
his An European insect, and has beer
fosna In Germany, France and italy
WAers ct times IL has committed sever,
depredations upon the. wheat crop. i
was brought tO.this country probably II
some straw used in package blythe Hes
sian soldiers, who landed on Staten Ia
lAAA and the west end sof Long Island
August. 1776, but did not become &C
multiplied As 70 attract general notice
BY itS injuries IN that neighborhood I'M
I'll lT7S. And from thence, as a central
point. 1t graduallyIi extended over the
country In all directions, advancing al
LAe rate ofIfrom ten. 20 twenty miles q
year. II appeared west Of the AIleeha.
MES In 1897, in Ohio and North Caro-
lima about 1910, in Michigan In 1913,
and In 1914 was Every destructive In
Ohio Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis
consinsa eastern Iowa, and In eastern
Kansas in 1s71-7s. being very des,ruc.
tive in 1877.
1t belongs to the diptera or two wing.
Cd insects, Of which the common house
ny Is the best known type. 1t belongs to
the cecidomYidae, = large group of min.
ute nles, resembling the daddy long, egs,
but Of diminutive form.
The female closely resembles mus.
quito In Its appearance, but Is a third
smaller, or about one-tenth of an inch in
length The body is slender, uniformly
DARK brown, the head isround, but some
what fiAttened, the eyes are black, the
wings dull smoky brown, while the legs
are paler brown than the upper side of
the body. The pale brown antenne are
The male Is rather smaller than the
female, being distinguished by the long
slender abdomen and the longer and
mare hairy antenne.
The eggs resemble minute reddish
grains, land ere laid Ia the creases on the
upper surface Of the leaf. They hatch
In about week .iaAd the minute worm
craWls down the sheath of the Leaf to its
base at the crown Of the root below the
surface OF the ground, where it remains,
suosisting upon the inches of the plant,
without wounding 1t, but causing it to
Wither, turn yellow and die.
The worm Is glossy awhile maggot,
with pale green cloud in the center of
Its body, and indIstinctly showing some
nne lines making rs JOINTS. 1t attains
Its grOwth IN about SIX weeks; its outer
akln then dries and hardens into a kind
81 shell and changes to q chestnut color,
having a marked resemblance to q fax
seed. inside of this shell the white |
~orn lies through the winter, and the |
lollowing spring ,>changes to its pupa |
'Orm, in..which state it continues only |
en- or twelve days, when 1t crowds |
tself out OF the fax seed case and i'm
throws of its pupA cloak, and
Asn the fully formed Nv. Thus the
" comes out again in May to make
mother attack on those shoots not al
eady killed.
The fly is double blOoded-the one in
september, the other in May. It is only
lpon fall sOwn grain that It can depre-
late 70 any serious extent. It conf
nence0 as soon as the wheat Is up an
nch high, and their presence on the
travis in the spring, causes them to
end and fall, by these broken straws an
infested field towardsi harvest time may
70 known, 1t looking as though cattle
lad passed through 1t.
It is everywhere followed up and de-
troyed by two parasitic insects resem-
ling small ants of black color. One
4 these-eurytOmG deStructor-sAY. AS
ertains where lava or fax seed of the
Il the Hessian fly is lying, and then
With its sting pierces the straw and
the skin of the larva and In.
erts an egg therein. from which a min
Ite maggot hatchee, which feeds inter
ally upon the larvA till it kills it. when,
fter having completed its transforms
ions, 1t bores q small hole outwards
trough the straw and escapes there
rom.
The other parasite Is much smaller,
nd inserts four or five OF its eggs IN a
lngle egg of the Hessian fly. whereby,
7hen the larva matches from the egg, it
as these minute maggots IN II, which
row with, and IN the end destroy it. 1t
) estimated that nine-tenths (0-1O) OF
very generation Of the Hessian fly are
estroyed by these parasites.
All writers, both agricultural and
neurological, concur in recommending
Ite sowing of wheat-atter September
o-As the most general, important and
asily applied preventive. Harris and
thers concur In recommending this
curse, even though the wheat is in dan
or of being injured by the cold winter
FEATHER. Some recommend the use OF
me, busted on the young wheat, roll
az, deep blowing, burning the stubble
fter harvest, etc. Such remedies as
nese are of little use, as compared with
Areful preparation of the soil and late
owing, while some of them do more
arm than good.
There are four other insects in our
ountry which produce a diseased ap-
earance in ripening grain similar to
lat of the Hessian fy-a swelling of
he stalks at the lower joints and a bend
the same place, causing the straw to
IAN over to one side. One of these in
asts wheat, two lnfest barley and one
them rye.
The losses IN some parts of our coun-
" have been severe at different times.
q Pennsylvania in 1912, very severe.
treat havoc in Maryland and Virginia
q 1913. Indiana and ILLINOIS in 1874.
n Georgia In 1876, scarcely left seed
nough for the next CROP" and in New
FORK the same year over $4,000 bush
Is In 1S49, very destructive in Ohio"
Those wishing complete account of
he fiy will fnd It In Bulletin No. f."
United States chronological commits
Ion, 1880. Very truly,
"FARMER"
Fremont TWP, June 8, 1885.
Capital: Mr.. l. Homer of Emporia
vas in the city yesterday. He is inter
'sted In silk culture, and brought with
linn aoune vary fine anaciunaos ~ Harsss