Barton County democrat., 1909-07-16
Winds tightly about the straw

winds tightly ABOUT tne sTaW
for some distance upward, then
branches off as the ordinary leaf
blade. The straw infested with
Hessian fly breaks over just abOv
a joint, which, while it varies
considerably in location, is usu-
ally a relatively short distance
above the ground. If the grower
will carefully pull the leaf away
from the stalk where it is brok-
en- over, he will find lying in a
little dert lengthwise in the
straw an oval, dark-brOwn, seed
Like body one-fourth of an inch o.
less long. This is the ''flaxseed''
stage of Hessian fly and is some
improperly spoken of as the egg
of the fly. Sometimes, through
careless handling or other causes
the 'flaxseed" will be gone and
only the little dent in the straw
left as evidence of its former
presence. If the grower does not
find the ''flaxseed" in the first
examined, he should continue to
examine broken straws until he
does find it, or until he is con-
vinced that the fly did not dc
the work.
How to control the HesSian
fly.-The practice of following
wheat with wheat, while excep-
tionany favorable to the INCREASE
of fly, is so general i'm our large
wheat-grOwing counties that the
"steps" in fly-control have been
selected and tested in accordance
with this practice. Those desir'
ing to use rotation as a means OF
controlling the fly and straw.
worm would do well to consult a
more extended treatment OF
these insects. 3
The following steps will aid in
its control:
l. Disking.-The disk should
follow the binder or header just
as soon as possible. This will
throw out a large percentage OF
the flax-seeds, that would other.
wise be protected by lying in the
stubble below the surface, so that
their parasitic enemies can at.
tack them. The diSkIng will con-
serve the soil moisture, render thu
plowing easier, and start the
volunteer wheat and the weeds.
2. PlOwing.-FOllow the disk
in from two to four weeks by
the plow. Set the plOw to run
five or six inches deep and SC
completely turn the land that all
fly-irffested stubble, volunteer
wheat, weeds and rubbish gen.
orally, shall be thrown exactly il
to the bottom of the furrOw and
the surface slice turned Oyel
on it. Compact tins plOwed land
into a good seed-bed with imple'
ments that will not pull the stub
BILE to the surface, and you vii
have about four inches of com
pact soil between the fly and day
light. Very few of the flies thus
covered will ever get out. Elk
periments at Manhattan and TT
Hays have shown that blowing
or six inches deep produces cor
siderably better yield than shal
low blowing or disking alone, bu
they also show that the plOwine
should be completed by the mid
die of August. This serves to In
dicate that the type of plOwin9
that is needed for the fly is ais
best for securing the largeS
yield of wheat when no fly i
present.
3. Destruction of VOluntee
should be kept down from the pr
aration of the seed-bed until tn
crop is sown, in order that /
may not serve to carry the Il.
over to the main crop.
4. Late sowing-Sow the whea
at such a time as will enable /
to get above the ground after tn
majority of the flies have emerg
ed and deposited their eggs. Tn
date for any one year in any 10
cality can be determined by an
one who has studied the fl.
enough to be able to follow 1T
changes. 1t has not been pract1
cable in the past to pursue thl
method, and trial sOwings hav
bee1 resorted to to find the dat
:. 100- n