Carolina Watchman

              jill ai it ic n/^f if t ural y pg _-___*_____-- l-_-^_s_-b observations communicated at lite request uf ilu hon il f ellsworth by e ('. if rich librarian of yah college cou nt client the eessian fly the insect commonly called the hessian ih whicli has for so many years ravaged the wleat fields of our country appeal's to have been wholly unknown here before the vmerican revolution it is tjsually d that the inseel was lirst notice'd in , the year 1770 or 1779 on staten island ■ nnd thc we ti ily end of long island and • was generally supposed to have beeu in ci tl among straw brought hither by the hessian troops in thc service of great britain the ravages of the inseel soon ctcd general attention : and as early as the year j 77 s serious apprehensions ivere excited in england thai the destroy er might be conveyed thither in some car lo of wheat the alarm there was so 1 thai he government took up the matter the privy council sat day after day anxiously debating what measures ould be adopted to ward off the danger of a calamity more to be dreaded as they well knew than the plague or pestilence ; expresses were sent off iii all directions to the officers of the customs at the outports respecting the examination of cargoes despatches written to the ambassadors in france,^vuslria prussia and america to gain thai information of the want ol which they were now so sensible : and so impor tant was the business deemed that the minutes of the council and the documents collated from fill upwards of 2<>0 octavo pages kirby and spencc i 50 on the 25th of june of that year an order in council was issued prohibiting thc en trance into great britain of wheat raised in any of the territories of the united states ; intending by this measure to keep out the much-dreaded enemy soon after the arrival of the news of this order the supreme executive council of pennsylva nia addressed a leller of inquiry to the " philadelphia society for promoting ag riculture who promptly replied that the plant of the wheat alone was injured and that the insect was not propagated by sowing thc grain which grew on fields in fected with it the prohibition was doubt less based on the erroneous representation : of sir joseph banks and dr blagden which they continued to enforce even af ter they were better instructed by dr cur rie it is sufficiently remarkable that although the wheat was prohibited an entry it was allowed lo be stored so that the hessian fly if concealed among lhe grain would alter all have had a good opportunity to escape into the coun try in eight or ten mouths the govern menl bought the imprisoned wheat at prime cost kiln-dried it and re-sold it at great loss and almosl immediately took off the prohibition memoir of currie ii 65 in the course ol a few years after this the hessian fly was found in every part nl our country where wheat was cultiva ted from the period of the revolution down to the present time no insect in the land has received so much public attention or has called out so many scores of pages • i observation ami speculation these are to be found scattered through maga zines agricultural journals and common newspapers but in defiance of ihem all the hessian ily continues its destructive work and is probably as'little under the actual control of man as it was half a cen tury ago whether this insect was au original in habitant of this country or was imported by the hessian soldiers is a question not yet settled at the time ofthe discission which led to the prohibitory order an ex tensive inquiry iu europe resulted in the conclusion that the insect was wholly un known there yet in thc year 1734 it was found existing in several places in southern europe and injuring tin wheat "• the same manner as in this country — his important discovery was made by toy friend mr 1 tunes i dana who had previously been engaged with me in the lamination of the hessian ily and was v u qualified to decide upon the case — american journal of sciences xli 153 moreover we have an account from the vicinity of geneva in switzerland re ported by duhamel of an insect destroy ing the wheat there as long since as 173:2 m me manner of the hessian fly ; and an accoimt in 1823 by raddi of what is probably the same insect in various pla ces in italy no traces have been detect ed of any insect of the habits of the hes slan fly in our country earlier than the jear 177t and if this insect is a native north america what plant sustained before wheat rye and barley were im p^ed • on the other hand we have no ' pr°of that the hessian fly has ever been : the carolina watchman brut-elt k james f f r " kzt.v a check vpoh alt vocr editors sf proprietors -\ - a are ( new series rclers do tin and liberty < ___ _. „ geii'l utirrison ) number g of volume ii salisbury n c june 7 1.845 === found in germany and it is certain that if the wheat were reaped in the ordinary manner nearly all the available insects would be left in thc stubble ; and further the straw alleged to have been brough't by tlie hessians must have been that whicli ripened in the summer of 177a and from which most of the insects which it con tained would have escaped before au gust 177f on a question of such uncer tainty no one need quarrel with another's opinion the first scientific description of the hessian ily was published in the journal of the academy of natural sciences of philadelphia for july 1817 xo 3 i 15 by the late distinguished entomologist thomas say he there gives it the sys tematic name of thc cecidomyia destruct or ; and to his description adds a few re marks relative to its habits and furnishes also an account of another insect by which the fly is often destroyed without going into a minute and tedious technical description the following account is of fered as probably sufficient to enable an observer to identify the insect in its vari ous transformations : the hessian fly is a two-winged insect with head eyes and thorax black ; the head is small and de pressed ; the palpi or mouth feelers are three or four jointed — the basal one being thc smallest ; the antenna are about half as long as the body and consist each of from 1 1 to 17 oval joints besides the ba sal joint which appears double ; the wings arc large hairy rounded at the tip and have each two or three longitudinal nerv ures ; the abdomen is of a tawny red and furnished irregularly with many black hairs ; consists of seven rings or segments besides the ovipositor which is of two sides and of a rose-red color ; the ovipos itor when extended to the utmost is about one-third as long as the abdomen : length of body from the front of lhe head to the end of the abdomen about one-eight of an inch ; the legs arc long and slender pale red and covered sparsely with dark hair the male is equal in size to the female but generally less black wilh an tenna somewhat longer and about three fourths the length of ihe body the joints of the antenna are globular and slightly separated from each other several other species of the genus cecidomyia or one closely allied to it arc common in ibis re gion but the hessian fly is the largest and darkest of our species with which i am acquainted the eggs are laid in the long creases or furrows of the upper surface of the leaves (/. e the blade or strap-shaped pari oflhe young wheat plant while depositing her eggs the insect stands with her head to wards the point or extremity of the leaf and at various distances between the point and where the leaf joins and surrounds the stalk the number found on a single leaf varies from a single cg-z up to thirty or even more the egg is about a fiftieth of an inch long cylindrical rounded at the ends glossy and translucent of a pale red color becoming in a few hours irregu larly spotted with deeper red between its exclusion and its hatching these red spots are continually changing in number si/.e and position : and sometimes nearly all disappear a little while before hatch ing two lateral rows of opaque white spots about ten in number can be seen in each c^jz in four days more or less according lo the weather the egg is hatch ed ; the little wrinkled maggot or larva creeps out of the delicate membranous v skin crawls down the leaf enters the sheath and proceeds along the stalk usu ally as far as thc next joint below here it fastens lengthwise and head down wards to the tender stalk and lives upon the sap it does not gnaw thc stalk nor docs it enter the central cavity thereof but as the larva increases in size it grad ually becomes imbedded in the substance of the stalk after taking its station the larva moves no more gradually loses its reddish color and wrinkled appearance becomes plump and torpid is at first semi translucent and then more and more clouded wilh internal white spots ; and when near maturity the middle oflhe in testinal parts is of a greenish color in five or six weeks varying with the sea son the larva begins to turn brown and soon becomes of a bright chestnut color in this state the insect bears some resem blance to a flax seed : and many observers speak of this as the flax-seal state the larva has now become a chrysalis or pu pa and takes no more food the pupa within gradually cleaves oil from the out er skin and in the course of two or three i weeks is entirely detached from it so that the skin of the larva now brown and har dened and of a sort of lcalhcrly texture has become a case or shell for thc pupa inside the pupa shell is of course in size and form like thc larva : it is oval bulging out beneath and of the same curve above as thc outside of the stalk ; divided by cress lines inlo twelve segments and is about an eighth of an inch long within this shell the pupa gradually advances towards the winged state ; it contracts in length but not in breadth ; and its skin appears covered with minute elevations just be fore evolution we find lhc pupa invested in a delicate membrane or scarf which not long previous was its outer skin through which many parts of the future fly may be distinctly seen finally this scarf splits along the thorax or back and the insect comes forth both from this and and the pupa shell a perfect two-winged fly this is iu brief the history of an indi vidual which has been so fortunate as to escape all the numerous enemies with which its race is surrounded from the mo ment the egg is deposited ; but of these more hereafter in the northern and middle states at ' least winter wdieat is sown in september ! or october soon after the plants have j appeared above ground the hessian fly ! begins to lay her eggs upon them ; and this operation is continued during several weeks according to the season the eggs laid on the green leaves are in a few days \ hatched and the young larva crawl down ! thc stalk and take their stations ; gene ' rally clustering around the stalk at the j | nearest joint below here by sucking of ; the plant they increase in size become ! full and hard and pressing deeply into the ; j stalk they impair its growth ; and if their i number about one joint is large the stalk is killed frequently the plant although ; impoverished advances far enough to head t j out ; but when the grain begins to fill its own weight or perhaps the wind causes the stalk to break down the injury done '< to the wheat is occasioned by the exhaus ; ; tion of thc sap aud by the pressure on the j yielding stalk in five or six weeks the larves stop feed ' ing the outer skin turns brown and with in this brown and leathery case the pupa pass the winter — generally a little below the surface of the earth iu april and may the fly is again found depositing her , eggs on lhc same wheat viz : that from ! ' grain sown the preceding autumn and also on thc spring wheat whicli has just come up these eggs hatch and the lar va therefrom operate in thc same manner as those of the autumn previous these j larva become pupa about the middle of june the hies which lay their eggs in ' the spring are probably in part from thc pupa which became such late in the pre ceding autumn and partly from pupae con : tained in stubble left the preceding sum mer thc period of the existence of the hessian fly in the pupa or flax-seed state is exceedingly variable after much ob servation my own opinion is that in gene ' ral pupa which become such late in the autumn evolve the winged insect partly during lhc next spring aud partly in thc summer and autumn following those pupa whicli become such about june evolve the winged insect partly during thc next autumn and partly during the year succeeding the hessian fly is attacked by nume rous foes which in various stages of its existence destroy a large part of every generation whether it has in its winged state any enemies except the ordinary destroyers of flies i know not the eggs while lying on the leaves of thc young plant arc visited by a very minute four winged insect a species of platygaster which lays in them its own eggs from later observation it appears that occa sionally as many as five or six eggs of this parasite are laid in a single egg of the hessian fly the latter egg hatches and becomes a pupa as usual : but from thc pupa case instead of the hessian fly is sues one or more of these minute parasites the pupa while imbedded in lhe stalk are attacked by at least three different mi nute parasites four-winged hymenoptera which boring through the sheath of the stalk deposite their eggs in the body with in ; and the latter is finally devoured by the parasite larvae these are the princi pal means by whicli the multiplication of lhe hessian fly is restrained within tolera ble limits although the loss annually sustained by i the wheat growers of this country in con ! sequence of thc ravages of the hessian fly is severe yet it is well nigh impossible to ascertain even its probable amount as long since as 1800 dr s l mitchill of new york affirmed that the insect i.s more formidable to us than w'ould be an army of twenty thousand hessians in 1804 president dwight of yale college remarked that " this insect is feeble and helpless in the extreme defenceless against the least enemy and crushed by the most delicate touch ; yet for many years it has taxed this country annually more per haps than a million of dollars at the present day the amount of the injury in flicted probably far exceeds what it was forty years stnee ; and to discover some feasible mode of exterminating the insect or at least of arresting its ravages is an object of great importance to this country various remedial measures have from time to time been proposed ; most of j which i will here state 1st steeping the seed-wheat in elder juice solution of nitre boiling water or other liquids ; or rolling in lime ashes or some other substance in order to kill the eggs — but as the eggs ofthe hessian fly are not on the seed they will never be hurt by such processes so far as these means give vigor to the plant they may be of some little service 2d sowing seed obtained from places in which the insect has not made its ap | pearance american museum iv 47 — this recommendation also assumes the error that thc eggs are laid on the grain and will be found as it has often proved useless as respects this insect 3d abstaining rigidly throughout the ! whole grain-growing region of north a merica from planting wheat rye barley or oats for one two or three years and thus to starve out the insect ! — this plan might be effectual but would obviously involve some inconveniences 4th manuring the land very highly so that the plants will grow vigorously and be sooner out of the way of the insect and , also better able to resist it — this propo j sal has some merit but docs nothing to : wards destroying the insect 5th sowing some variety of bearded wheat flint wheat c supposed to have a harder and more solid stalk than com ! mon wheat and better able to withstand the impression of the larvae — a sugges tion of some value but equally with 4th leaves the insect unharmed cth fumigating the wheat field and sprinkling the young wheat with infusion of elder and with other steeps — if success ful which is quite uncertain it is plain that these measures are impracticable on a large scale 7th sowing winter wheat very late in the autumn so that the fly shall have mostly disappeared before the plants arc large enough to be attacked no doubt this plan is lo some extent useful but the wheat sown late is in great danger of per ishing during the winter the fly will of course attack it in the spring yet one at tack will do less danger than two 8th sowing oats early in autumn on the intended wheat-field — it is supposed the fly will lay its eggs on the plant ; then let them be ploughed in and the wheat sown thc fly having nearly exhausted itself on the oats the wheat will suffer less this plan may possibly be of some partial utility 9th drawing a heavy roller over the young wheat both in autumn and spring this process must be useful in crushing many eggs and larvae 10 permitting sheep and other animals to graze the wheat-fields while the insects are laying their eggs — by these means large numbers of the eggs will be devour ed with the leaves 11th burning the stubble immediately after harvest and ploughing in thc re mains — this is by far thc most practica ble and effectual mode of exterminating thc insect or at least of checking its in crease in the stubble are many pupa of the fly at this time completely in our pow er if in reaping thc stubble is left high the fire would sweep rapidly over a field and destroy nearly all these pupa ; the few which escaped the fire would by the plough be buried so deep as to perish in the earth ; mere ploughing in ofthe stub ble must be highly useful if the two re commendations last named were thorough ly put in practice over the whole country — not only upou wheat but also on rye and barley and any other plants attacked by the hessian fly — the ravages of this in sect would in all probability ere long be come scarcely worthy of notice it may not be improper in this place to state that the foregoing account of lhe ha bits ofthe hessian fly i.s derived irom my own long-continued observations and that i have moreover endeavored to consult all the papers of any importance which have been published on the subject there arc in thc united states besides the hessian fly,several other insects which attack the wheat while in the field those persons who assert that the former lays its cgzs on the grain in the spike or head have undoubtedly mistaken for the hes sian fly some one of these other insects the following brief notices of the more important of these enemies 1 have abridg ed from the accounts comprised in dr t w.harris's " treatise on some ofthe lu st cts of new england which arc injurious to vegetation ;" camb lspj 159 pages 8vo a work of great interest and value in it the inquirer will find a faithful di gest of all the reliable information we have on thc numerous insects which in jure our plants fruits and trees ; and in addition he will learn the means of de fence so far as any have been discovered thc book ought to be in the hands ol ev ery intelligent farmer and orchardist 1 a grain moth angoumois moth — alucita cerealclla oliv probably the same as described by colonel carter in thc transactions of the american philosophi cal society volume i 1771 : and by j lo rain in mease's archives of useful know ledge volume ii 1812 it is about three eighths of an inch long when its wings are shut thc upper wings are of a light brown satin color and lustre covering the body horizontally above but drooping a little at the sides the lower wings and the rest of the body are ash-colored thc moth lays her eggs usually on the young and tender grain in the field each cater pillar from these eggs selects a single grain burrows into if and remains con cealed devouring lhe meal within sub jecting the grain to a heat of 107 deg fahr for twelve hours in an oven will kill the insect 2 the english wheat fly tipula tritici kirby is a small orange-colored two winged gnat which lays its eggs in thc head of wheat while blossoming the maggots from these ggs are without feet tapering towards the head at first per fectly transparent and colorless but soon becoming orange-yellow ; and when ma ture are each about an eighth of an inch long it is supposed they devour the pol len and prevent the setting of thc grain : the maggots fall from thc spike to lhe earth within which they undergo their final transformations fhe insect or one very similar to il has done much damage in thc northern states and in canada for several years past but no effectual mode of preventing the mi-chief or of destroy ing thc insect appears to have been de vised 3 the win tit caterpillar — this is a span worm of brownish color with twelve bit — six near each end ofthe body it feeds on the kernel in the milky state and also devours the germinating end of the ripen ed grain it is said to be found in the chaff when the grain is threshed we have little certain knowledge concerning the parent insect or its transformations in addition to these three there are pro bably other insects more or less injurious to our wheat crops much has been pub lished in our journals relative lo these de predator yet their habits are imperfectly understood and many of the accounts are confused and contradictory i is greatly to be desired that all who hate the oppor tunity should endeavor to make careful observations and communicate them to the public ► these observations must be accompa nied by accurate descriptions of the insect under examination and in its various sta ges ; otherwise most ofthe labor will be spent iu vain slarrn nnd the presbyterian church — th new york commercial says the presbyterian convention now in session in philadelphia bas adopted the following propositions relating tu thc subject of slavery : 1 tbat the instituti m of slavery existing in ihese u states is not i:itul on lhe part of ci vil society 2 that slavery as it e.uts in these united states is not a sinful offence 3 that civil government \-< not bound to a boli.-h slavery in these l.nited states 4 that it is not agreeable to the word ol flod tor any person intentionally to induce those held in slavery to rebel against their masters in new orleans on the loth in.-tant allen jones was fined 81000 and j j bryant 2000 being his second offence ) for violations of the laws against gambling and to remain in pri son till the fines were paid all the gaming apparatus was confiscated interesting from mexico through the xew orleans paper we have dates from vera cu lo the 3utfa ultimo and j from thc city of mexico i the 0ib on the 21st senor cueras ho minister f,r ■ foreign affairs submitted ,., chamber of i deputies a communication suiting ail(,,|1(.r • project lor the arrangement of u ivxasques : tion a translation ot which will lie found below this document it will l.e observed disclose two interesting facts — first that a huge mdila ; ry ibrce has been concenl rated on be hurders of texas and second that overtures iiave been made to mexico l.y the texan govern ment tor a recognition ol her independence this new orleans bee states that tin mexi ran government i.-i tin even of tbo failure of the ; ;..;> - 1 negotiations is preparing lur war the authoyty of cmigres has lieeii required iu order to contract a loah of three millions of d liars a an ia resl not greater than fifteen percent authority bas likewise been asked for the setth ment ofth * ibreign del t of mexico \ arious projects have been submitted to con gress for a genera amnesty of the military clii againsi whom prosecution has been com menced aud some have proposed that the am nesty should be extended to all tin political criminals with die restriction lhal santa anna and canalizo and ihe four ministers who signed lhe decree ot die 29lh november should quit die country for ten years or sal mil to thc con tinuation of iheir trial the latter proposition s!:,_l;i!y modified was adopted l.y the chamber of deputies on lhe 16th santa anna canalizo and the four ministers arc allowed eight day to determine whether they will ehoi.se an pxpatriauoc ol len years rn the continuation of their trials breaches of trust in pecuniary matters f>rm an exception to , this general pardon and santa anna's abdica tion of the presidency is accepted message of senor cuevas " g::.vr..]*..n : the affairs of texas are so exceedingly grave and in i it such profound con sideration both by congress and the execu tive that it is impossible without incurring a special responsibility to delay the course lo bo pursued iu order to prepare a line of conduct compatible with the honor and interest of the republic as tlie government has already ta ken steps for the assemblage ofa body ol troop , on that frontier employing all its resources to enable them to succeed and as it is now en gaged in obtaining those resources which il has demanded nf tin legislature nothing remains but to continue to carry out tlie plan proposed iu order flint the republic may sustain herself with lhe dignity befitting her gi»od name and ; sovereignty but circumstances have occurred which regder not merely expedient but absolutely ne cessary a negotiation in order ti prevent tht annexation of texas to the juited stales and which mexicans cannot tolerate whatever may be the consequences of such a rupture tex as has taken the initiative acaba de inieinr un arreglo and ids excellency tl.e president ad interim who fully understands the importance ofthe movement is likewise entirely convinced that he can put nothing into execution without lhe previous sanction of the august chambers since under present circumstances he does not consider himself invested wiih the attributes conceded by the constitution in diplomatic ne gotiations with foreign powers the govern ' ment being faithful to iis prescribed duties t frank even to the extent of submitting all its ; acts to the freest discussion and convinced that these national questions should lie treated with the purest patriotism anil wilh a sense of jus tice superior to even attack and every preju dice from whatever source they may emanate has concluded ihat under the present aspect of the texas question lhe negotiation which has been tendered should nol lie refused nor should the government absolve itself from the duly ol withholding its own decision upon so delicate a p int noli after proper consultation with tho legislative body it an honorable arrangement can he made — one which would satisfy lhc na tional honor — lhe government will have tbe pleasure of submitting li to congress and if such arrangement i bund impracticable how ever desirous the government mav he of a peace worthy the republic it will he the lirst to decide in lavor of a war which will he the more just a every possible effort will have been made to avoid il fin preliminary propositions presented hy texas have f appearan ■ of an honorable transaction favorable to the republic : and iho government wi i ml < ming !•> any liual con clusion v 7 undoubtedly acci ;■'. them as a sim i>!l prelude to in formal settlement whicli has been solicited to decline negotiation would in ai once lo consummate the annexation of texas to the i uiled stales aud tbe chamber will in itui to remark that an event resulting from such evii ci p a an mid ne um ■ jado won i in an overwhelming charge against the prfscnt administration to refuse to listen lo propositions of peace which may briug about a saiisliti lory an ingemcul and lo proceed al once !•> extreme mi as ires may lor the mcmenl hatter a justly irritated tat riot ism but i . not w hal the nation should expect from its uc a ithorily whi se duty it is to foresee and consider maturely lhe evils ot a long and expensive war to avo .' ihem and to embnu e this calamity only when honor can be preserved in no ot r manni r in a crisis bo momentous as the preseni ou if the government were lo follow simply the impulse of its own feelings with respect to the law of annexation congress well knows what its course would he and is aware thai it would decide upon a rupture « bici would be gloi iously sustained by th atrioiism of every mexican lis a heavy sac rilice both h.r lbe president (/ / interim and his ministry to require tbe au thority asked in the present communication ; but they make lid sacrifice under a profound conviction and an ardenl desire lor thc prosperi ty of the republic and with the confident he lief that having done every thing possible for the preservation of peace il war he unavoida ble its issue will he a worthy ot the national renown as of the justice ol the people who have been provoked in it in view of thc above his excellency the president al interim ia cabinet counsel and l unanim us agreement instructs me lo suh mit ihe following request to the deliberation of congress : that tin the government be authorized to listen to the proposals made by texas and to proceed to an arrangement or to negotiate a treaty which it may cousider expedient and honorable lor the republic the same to he sub ; mi.ted to congress fur it examination and ap proval i repeat to you <_' iille*_cn the assurances oi my distinguished coii-iiderat ion god and liberty me !<•... 1st april 1r45 * mus g cuevas - to the scrd.n.'t i th '", ini'nr r pepvh