River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-11-12

Healthy wheat stalk and stalk dwarfted By
hy; a, Hessian fly egg; b. maggot; c. flaxseed
or pupa case; q, pupa; {, fly laying eggs in leaf
crease; T. female fly; G. male fly, both en-.
larged; h, fiaxseeds and swelling produced by
them; 1. parasite Of fly, enlarged.
Grafton of course passes through the
same distinct stages. by harvest, prac-
tically all of the larvae have assumed
the "haxseed" and remain with the
stubble when the wheat is removed,
although a few are carried away with
the straw. From these the fall gener-
atoms descend, the first of them APP
pearing probably before September /
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 ''faxseed" stage being
simply a 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;
l. As a large percentage of the in
sects remain in the stubble at harvest,
in the flaxseed 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.
2. 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 win depend so much upon
the season and the cropping planned,
that each must select his own method.
8. Such of the fiaxseeds as are car
ried away in the grain may be de-
stroyed by burning the screenings if
the wheat is threshed at once.
4. To prevent the wheat from becom-
ing infested in fall by the first autumn
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 its reasonable
safety from winter-killing-to the last
of September or the first of October
5. Other things being equ al, 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
a measurable safeguard against loss.
6. Those varieties of wheat with a
stiff and fiinty stem, and those which
tiller somewhat freely from the root,
will suffer least under fly attack, the
first because the straw will not so read
ily 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 the
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 to
the heading stems - Orange Judd
Farmer