The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-11-07
HEss1AN FLY AND TRANSFORMATIONS

L
Healthy wheat stalk and stalk dwarfted by
fly; a. Hessian fly egg b. maggot; c, faxseed
or pupa case; d, pupa; g, fly laying eggs in leaf
crease; f. female fly; q, male fly, both en-.
larged; h, faxseeds and swelling produced by
them; l. parasite of fly, enlarged.
from one stage around to that stage
again, is about six weeks. The larvae
from the eggs laid early in the spring
do the chief damage seen at that sea-
son of the year, causing the crinkling
or falling down of the straw when
the wheat heads out. Each gen.
Grafton of course passes through the
same distinct stages. BY harvest, prac-
tically all of the larvae have assumed
the "aaxseed" and remain with the
stubble when the wheat is removed,
although a few are carried away with
the straw. From these the fall gener-
ations descend, the first of them ap-
pearing probably before September 1
in the volunteer grain or early-sown
wheat, and the second generation,
usually the one remaining dormant
over winter, gets in the regularly sown
wheat crop. The damage is all done
by the larvae, the "haXseed" stage being
simply transition from that state to
the perfect one, in which the fly is en-
tirely innocent. The following are the
most important general preventive and
remedial measures applicable;
1. AS a large percentage of the in
sects remain in the stubble at harvest
in the haXseed state, and as the flies
which hatch from them are weak and
delicate, the ground may well be
plowed as soon after harvest as prac-
ticable, and rolled, to close crevices
through which the winged insects
might escape. If the stubble can be
made to burn, this will, of course, de-
stroy the faxseeds even more effect
ually.
3 The volunteer grain springing up
in the fields must be closely watched
and destroyed in about four weeks af-
ter its appearance. as it will otherwise
assist to carry the insect through the
summer. The most convenient method
of doing this will depend so much upon
the season and the cropping planned,
that each must select his own method.
8. Such of the flaxseeds as are car
ried away in the grain may be de-
the wheat is threshed at once.
4. To prevent the wheat from becom-
ing infested in fall by the first autum-
nal brood and to escape as much of
the second as possible, wheat sowing
may, with advantage, be postponed as
late as is consistent with it's reasonable
safety from winter-killing the last
of September or the first of October.
g. Other things being eq ual, the dam
age done by an attack will depend on
the fertility of the soil and the strength
of the plant. If the latter is strong
enough to send out from the root new
and vigorous stalks to replace those
killed by the maggots of the fly, con-
siderable amount of fly attack may be
scarcely noticeable at harvest time.
From this it follows that the mainte-
nance of the fertility of the soil is often
measurable safeguard against loss.
6. Those varieties of wheat with a
stiff and hinty stem, and those which
tiller somewhat freely from the root,
will suffer least under fly attack, the
first because the straw will net so read
lily bend or break at the point weak
ened by the maggot, and the second
because the flies of the second spring
brood select fresh young shoots for TIE
deposition of their eggs in preference
to the older and tougher stalks, with
the effect to kill only these valueless
sprouts and so dimini sh the injury tC
the heading stems. - Orange JUDD
Farmer.