The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1919-08-01
GOVERNMENT ADVISES
WHEAT GROWERS
How to Avoid Hessian< Fly.

ut should be borne In mind that the
most practical and effective methods
of controlling the Hessian fly are iden-
tical with the best methods of produc-
ing the maximum yields of wheat. 1t
does not seem to occur to the average
farmer that 1t is possible for him to
fight the Hessian fly by the process of
good farming, involving thorough cur
tivatiOn, good seed, and a rotation Of
crops. 1t has been said, and with
truthfulness, that outbreaks of this
pest are more often the result of poor
farming than otherwise. The most Sc
rious objection to the most practical
and effective method that can be en-
plOyed to control this pest in the
fieb1-namely, late sowing-is that
there Is danger of so delaying the
growth of the plants that they do not
become sufficiently advanced to en-
able them to withstand the winter.
The farmer is thus placed, as it were,
between Scylla and Charybdis, and
must risk the ravages of the Hessian
fly on the one hand or the freezes of
winter on the other.
'Much of the delay in the growth
Of late-sown plants in the fall can be
to the preparation of the soil and to
the quality of the seed. A thoroughly
vigorous wheat plant will not only
withstand slight attack Of the Hes
sian fly but it frequently occurs that
such light attack Is rather beneficial
than otherwise, for the reason that
the killing Of the first shoot that is
thrown up from the kernel forces the
plant to tiller, and in rich soil the
result is to produce more grain; but
If the soil lacks fertility and has been
POORLY prepared, this slight attack
that vigorous plants overcome Is fatal
to weak plants, because of the badly
nOurished condition of the plants. The
best advice that can be given is to
begin the preparation Of the field in
the fall precisely as though it was ex-
pected to sow at very early date,
but instead of sowing use the disk
harrow and the roller, even after it
appears to be waste of labor to till
the field further.
when a finely pulverized, compact
seeded has been secured, the seed
should be selected, and this should be
done with the point in view that I'M
naturally shriveled or otherwise i'm
perfect kernels cannot produce healthy
wheat plants. When the kernel sprouts
1t at once sends fbrOuS roots down
into the soil from which to draw nour-
ishment for the young plant, and II
little or no nourishment is secured
the wheat plants are put into some
what the condition of stunted calves,
pigs or other farm animals which are
underfed.
Wheat plants cannot secure prompt
and ample nourishment if the roots
must make their way about among
clods due to poor preparation of the
soil, or in soil that lacks in fertility.
The farmer, then, should begin the
preparation Of his soil with the object
OF delaying the sowing of the wheat
and afterwards of pushing the growth
of the plant to the utmost until the be-
ginning of the cold weather. There
are farmers who grow wheat continu-
ously year after year but who rarely
lose crop on account Of Hessian fly
attacks, and even more rarely does the
pest originate in their own fields."-
Circular 81, q. s. Department of Agri-
culture.