Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 192, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 August 1919 — SOW WHEAT ON “SAFE DATE” TO CONTROL HESSIAN FLY. [ARTICLE]

SOW WHEAT ON “SAFE DATE” TO CONTROL HESSIAN FLY.

Lafayette, Ind., Aug. 15.—Sowing wheat, on a fly-free date is the surest way to prevent injury to the grain by the Hessian fly, is the statement of the men in the entomology division of Purdue university. September 20 to 23, for the northern part of the state, Septem-: ber 25 to 30 for the central part,: and October 3 to 5 for the southern part are the fly-free periods for Indiana, as determined by experiments. After these dates the flies will be gone in the various parts of the state and wheat sown then will (be free from eggs of the inisect. - Indications that the fly will present a serious problem next year to farmers growing wheat makes it necessary for them to know sometiling of the insect and those measures that will successfully control It. According to authorities, more damage is probably done to the wheat crop by this pest than by any other insect. In years when the Hession fly is abundant, hundreds of thousands of acres of wheat ate either totally destroyed or so badly injured that the yield is reduced i from 50 to 75 per cent and the monetary loss expressed in dollars would run far up into the millions. In addition to sowing the grain on fly-free dates, other measures which are beneficial in controlling the insect are: 1. Doing everything possible to grow good wheat. This implies good soil which is well fertilized, a well prepared seed bed, good seed and a standard crop rotation. 2. Plowing under all infested wheat stubble in the summer or early fall. 3. Killing volunteer wheatt bydisking while it is still young. | 4. Detailed information concerning the Hessian fly and fly-free dates may be obtained by writing the I U. S. department of entomology at 1 Lafayette or by consulting county agricultural agents.