The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-09-06
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AG RlCULTURISTS.
Some Up-to-:ate Hints About Gull
tivation OF the Soil and Yields
Thereof -ticulture, viticulture and
Horticulture.
Shall Indiana Farmers Continue to Grow
Wheat

Shall Indiana Farmers Continue to Grow
Wheat?
Throughout muLh of the state the
wheat crop is a disastrous failure
Thousands of farmers are asking, "Is
1T worth while to attempt to grow
Wheat?" This depends on whether the
cause or causes of the failure are be-
yond the farmers control. While the
season had something to do with the
poor wheat crop, the Hessian fly was
largely responsible. The fly practl-
cally destroyed many fields of wheat
last fall, long before the beginning of
winter. Many localities exempt from
the fly produced fair crop. Intelli-
gent, observing farmers quite general
ly agree that the fly" is the chief
cause of failure. Can the farmers con-
troll this pest or must they give up
beaten" by an insect smaller than a
mosquito?
Individual Effort Futile. While the
individual farmer may do something to
hold the fly in check, his efforts alone
are practically futile when the fly is
very prevalent. In this latitude there
are two broods, each year, of the Hes
sian fly, which propagates rapidly and
migrates with ease in the direction Of
the prevailing winds. 1t follows, there
lore, that one farmer cannot, by good
methods, barricade his farm against
both fall and spring attacks Of these
insects, which are produced in count
less numbers by his negligent neigh
Dor to the windward. But can nothing
be done? Is there no hope. Yes, there
is hope-aye, victory! If the farmers
will only unite, Unite, UNITE, to COM
bat this pest of the wheat field.
The Remedy. If the farmers will all
employ the following measures they
will outwit and largely destroy the fly,
and barring a hard winter, secure a
fair crop of wheat.
1. Prepare the ground for wheat
early and thoroughly.
2. Promptly destroy all volunteer
wheat in the plowed fields.
8. Sow decoy strips of wheat, about
one rod wide, around each field de-
signed for wheat.
4. Carefully turn under these strips,
using jointer and roll to bury all the
larvae and "faxseed" of the fly, just
before sowing the main crop.
8. Begin seeding as soon as the fly
has ceased to be active, and drill in
with the wheat some good complete
fertilizer, unless the land is already
sufficiently fertile.
These measures, If adopted by all
wheat growers, would (D destroy my
riads of the fly; (2) avoid almost
wholly the fall attack of the insect;
90 by greatly reducing the number of
the pests, prevent serious attack in
spring.
The times of sowing the border and
the main crop would vary with the lat
itude. They are approximately as fol-
lows: North third of the state, bor-
der, Sept. 1, crop Sept. 20 to 80; CEN
trail third, border Sept 10, crop Oct. 1
to 10; south third, border Sept. 90,
crop Oct. 20 to 80.
A Word to the Skeptical If you
have no faith in the above measures,
don't SOW any wheat-sow rye instead.
Then you will not hinder your neigh
Dor who is willing to try the remedy"
The writer desires to hear from
wheat growers who will undertake to
enlist their neighbors in a combined
attack" on the despised foreigners"
the Hessian fly.-W. c. Latta, Agrcul-
turist, Indiana Agricultural College,
Lafayette, Indiana.