The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-04-20
AGRICULTURAL.
SPRING TREATMENT
Of Fields Where Wheat has Been De-
strOyed by the Hessian Fly.

of fields of wheat that were badly dam
aged last fall by fly, which damage has
been further emphasized by climatic
effects of the winter, to such an extent
that the devoting of these fields to
other crops, the coming season, will be
inevitable. Numerous questions have |
come to the Experiment Station as to |
how best to manage these fields.
The question has been asked if the |
| fly will attack the young Seeding; if it
will attack oats; if it will lie in the
ground till next fall and affect the
wheat; or, if it is advisable to simply
harrow oats upon these fields, seed
with timothy, or disk and SOW with
oats. Before doing anything the farm
er must understand, first, that within
ing with Hessian flies. We have been
securing proof of this during the en-
tire winter, by getting infested plants
from various parts of the State, and
Matching out the flies in the warm tenn
lperature of the Insectary. When
these flies come out from their winter
cOnditiOn, known as the "haX-seed, y
and, by the way. these may be scatter
ed all over the ground away from the
plants-nOt finding sufficient wheat
lplants upon which to lay their eggs,
they will migrate to other fields. Thus
a very seriously affected wheat field
endangers, to certain extent every
other field of wheat situated in the
near vicinity. The only way to pre-
vent this is to plow under the infested
fields, turning the old wheat as deeply
beneath the surface as possible, and
narrowing and rolling the ground at
once after blowing. This will prevent
the flies from doing any further injury,
for they will hardly be able to make
their way through several inches OF
compact soil.
Second: Hessian flies will not attack
grass, nor oats, but simple narrowing
or disking of the fields will really de
stroy but very few of them, leaving
the rest to develop and go to other
fields. Where the wheat has been
killed out and the young seeding unin
liured, it may look like an improbable
piece of work to pillow under such &
field, and, in most cases, the farmer
must decide which is the best course t.
lpursue, but he must bear in mind tina
these flies will develop and go else
where to lay their eggs, and that the,
will not lay them upon oats or gras
that may be growing in the same field
! Then, again, it must be remembered
that the wheat has yet to stand sec
= ond attack of the fly between this ant
harvest. There are probably man.
fields that look, this Spring, as though
they might produce a part of the cror
but by the time they have withstoo
the coming attack of the fly the pros
poets will be vastly diminished.
In summarizing, it may be said tina
all wheat fields that do not give fairl
i good promise of crop, should be pillow
, ed under to a depth of from four to 81
inches, as quickly as possible, and tn
ground narrowed and rolled in orde
to prevent the flies from reaching tn
surface. The land may then be devot
ed to oats, corn or any other crop tina
may be practicable.
| One object we have had in view
I rearing flies throughout the winter
from plants secured in different POI
tions of the State, was to determin
I the presence of natural enemies of th
fly.
The most useful of these natural ent
mics winter over in the small brow
=. lso-called ''fax-seeds, in which th
Y flies also pass the winter. If ther
were any large number of these pre-
ent. it would not only prove that the1
were many less flies to be develope
than there were young last fall, bl
that the effect of these on the ne2
brood of the flies would be to destro
them and prevent injury; but, with a
of our rearing, we have not succeede
- in getting any of these natural en'
mics, though we have gotten myriad
. of flies, and these have deposited thei
= eggs upon wheat plants in the Insec
= airy. From all the information that W
, have been able to secure, in this wa!
q there does not seem to be much hel
. for the farmer, in this direction, b,
q tween this and the time when th
Z wheat is harvested.-Ohio Experimel