The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-27
THE HESSIAN FLY.
Authoritative Information ms to It's
Prevalence in Indiana.

lowing to the fact that but little has been
heard of the Hessian fly during the past
season. said Professor Troop. OF the agri-
cultural experiment station at Purdue Uni
versity, many have supposed that farmers|
would not suffer from that cause during the|
coming year. But a few weeks ago numer-I
Gus letters were received at the experimental
station stating that the fly was doing much
damage to wheat in certain sections of InI
diana. These letters were principally from|
farmers living In the south-central portion|
of the State.
s'In order to ascertain as accurately as
possible what portions OF the State were1
infested a circular letter was sent out To-
resenting every county in the State. asking
for information as TO the following data
Presence of the fly. extent OF damage being
date Of sowing, its presence in late sovn
wheat, variety OF wheat grown, the use %
commercial fertilizers.
Responses have been received from 187
correspondents 10 date representing eighty
six counties. OF these seventy-three counj
ties report the fly as doing more or Less
damage. Thirteen counties report no fyl
which may or may not be true. as II has
frequently happened that one man has rel
ported no fly and another man living in AMI
other section OF the county has reported
it as doing considerable damage. Those
counties reporting no fly are Lake, Aflenl
Whitley, Jasper. Newton, blackboard, Ward
starke and Scott. Those which have not rel
ported at all are Elkhart, Wells, Adams(
Bartholomew, Jefferson and Pike. FOrty7
six counties report the damage TO wheat
as ranging from Is 10 Is per cent. OF thd
crop. Twenty-four counties report oniY
slight damage; the greatest amount OF dam3
age is reported from the central and south7
ern counties. I'm Decatur county hfty-tWd
larvae were found i'm one plant.) In sfxty{
five counties in which the fly Is found fhd
wheat was sowed before Sept. =. while i1
eight counties IL is found, In wheat sow1(
after Sept. 3. but in only one after Oct. II
Twenty-seven varieties OF wheat are mend
toned as being grown In the infested disi
tricts. and no one variety Is mentioned a3
being more free from attacks than othersI
The varieties which are mostly grown ard
| Fultz. Poole. Niger. Rudy. Harvest KingI
Red Russian and Mediterranean Nor doe{
commercial fertilizer seem 10 lessen the att
tacks of the fly, although IL may appeai
later that the fertilized fields are In bette1
condition TO Withstand the attacks OF fh&
fly. OF the whole number reporting the fy|
sixty-eight report the use OF commercial
fertilizer. 1t will be seen that the ny Il
widely distributed. and in the majority 81
cases the injury was done 20 wheat thai
was sowed before Sept Is. In fact. IL MAJ
be said that the injury done 10 wheat sowrI
after that date Is very slight indeed ard
probably in most cases would not be noticed
were II not known that the ny was ~
neighboring fields. Therefore. we wish q
emphasize our suggestions in a former bull
Ietin, the truth OF which has been abundI
antly substantiated at this time, do not ID
I'm a hurry about sowing wheat. III the ~
is known TO be in the neighborhood SOW Z
| decoy strip around the field early and the
turn IL under later on: roll II down and the%
sow the main crop. The time for sowin}
| this decoy strip will vary from Aug. rs. q
the north, TO Sept. l. I'm the south. sowfn8
| the main crop Sept. % TO Oct. I in thN
north aud two weeks later In the south"