VOL. XXII.
—
NOV
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INDIANAPODIS, IND., SATURDAY, NOV 19, 1887.
NO. 47
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
The Hessian Fly .
BY PROF. F. M. WEBSTER.
For several weeks I have searched the
columns of the agricultural press, vainly
looking for some information in regard to
the occurrence of the Hessian fly in the
fields of young wheat, and were it not
that I have spent nearly three weeks in
these fields, in various parts of this State,
this silence on the part of correspondents,
would   lead to   the  conclusion   that  the
and points more or less outward, while
the whole plant has the appearance of
spreading out.
In Fig. 2 we have an infested plant, the
insect in its earlier stage being shown at a,
where it is always to be found at this
season of the year, in infested plants, and
may be readily detected by pulling the
outer sheath away from the plant. This
plant differs from that shown in Fig. 1
by the leaves being broader, shorter and
of a darker color, sometimes being almost
ifiue.   The plant has not   tillered, and the
arch enemy had succumbed to the dry
weather. Unfortunately, we have found
by personal observation, that the pest Is,
as usual,scattered generally over the State,
the central and a part of the northern portion, however,apparently escaping serious
infection, while some fields in the southern and also some in the northern counties are seriously damaged.
It is true, the adult fly is very inconspicuous, and only a very few farmers
would recognize them if they saw them,
but  the  effect of  the  insect, during its
little cylinder-shaped central leaf is missing; while the leaf has a strong tendency
to shoot directly upwards. The whole
plant is, in fact, only a oompact branch of
rank growing leaves. These two figures
represent extreme cases. The one is perfectly healthy,the other totally destroyed,
and between the two there are, of course,
all grades of injury. If the adult fly has
deposited her eggs on the plant before it
has tillered, the chances are that it will
never do so,and Fig. 2 will show the result.
After  the plant has  tillered, one, two or
;es on the young plants, is so
. there is no reasonable excuse
ing these, after one has once
dliar with their appearance,
lg contrast between
• TY AND INFESTED PLANTS.
In order to illustrate this difference between healthy plants and those injured
by the fly, I have had drawings made of
two plants taken direct from the field,
Fig. 1 represents a healthy plant. This is
well tillered, or stooled, as it is sometimes
termed, the leaves are of normal dimensions and color, the young, central leaf in
-each tiller's cylindrical, or spindle-shaped,
three of the tillers may be attacked, and
the remainder not injured. In this case a
part of the tillers will look like Fig. 1, and
the others like Fig. 2. An hour's practice
will enable any farmer to detect even a
slight injury to his wheat by the fly, and
he will find that to do this,will require only
a deliberate walk through his fields.
Now, I have begun
A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE HESSIAN FLY
in this State by direction of Prof. Riley,
United States Entomologist, and to do
this, and make the results of value to the
farmer, for whose benefit the investigations are being made, it is indispensable
that I am kept correctly posted with respect to the workings of the pest throughout the State. I cannot visit all parts of
the State at the proper time, and hence
must look to the readers of the Farmer
to aid me. If the grain is damaged worse
in one lo<*ality than in another, there is
some reason for it, and whatever the reason is, the farmer wants to learn everything possible to learn in regard to the
matter. Accurate information can only
be gained by having access to a large
amount of testimony from all parts of the
State, and I therefore ask every reader of
the Indiana Farmer who has a field of
wheat, and considers the information
here given worth two cents to him, to examine his field, and invest one cent in a
postal card, and after giving results of his
examination, date of sowing (as near as
possible), previous crop, variety of seed
thereon, mail the postal card either to the
editors of the Farmer or to myself.
Lafayette, Nov. 6th.
Fair  Grounds  Exempt from Taxation.
Indianapolis, Ind., Nov. 1,1887.
Hon. Bruce Carr, Auditor of State—
Sir: I have received a communication
from you in which you refer the following extract of a letter to me for an opinion:
"The Jay County Agricultural, Horticultural and Industrial Joint Stock Company was organized under the laws of Indiana in the month of December, 1871.
The board of commissioners of Jay county
purchased 40 acres of land under the laws
of the S tate to be used for fair grounds,
and leased the same to the society. The
society has a paid up capital stock of i?2,500
all of which was invested in fences, buildings and other improvements on the
grounds leased from the county. The society has never paid any dividends, but
has always expended the surplus earnings of the fairs in new improvements on
the grounds and increased premiums for
succeeding fairs. This is their settled
policy for the future. The society has
never been taxed on the real estate, but
has always paid taxes on the market value
of the capital stock, and whatever cash
surplus was on hand. Is the real estate
mentioned subject to taxation?"
Section 5,802, B. S. 1881, authorizes the
board of commissioners of any county, on
petition of a majority of the legal voters
therein, to purchase "in the name and on
behalf of such county, real estate to be
used for the purpose of agricultural and
horticultural fairs at a cost not exceeding
•$5,000. Sec. 5,803 provides that the grantor
shall furnish an abstract showing a sufficient and unencumbered title in him,
and that he shall execute and deliver to
the county board a deed of conveyance as
directed in the preceding section; and also
provides that said land shall be paid for
out of the general funds of the county.
The next section authorizes the sale of the
lands so acquired by the board of county
commissioners if "the same or any part
thereof shall no longer be an eligible location for such fair or fairs, or shall cease to
be necessary for such purpose," and provides that the proceeds of the sale shall be
turned into the county treasury.
Under these statutes I think it is entirely clear not only that the legal title to the
lands purchased in the county, but that
the board of commissioners is the sole
judge as to when the contingency has arrived which authorizes a sale of the lands.
The real estate of counties is exempt from
taxation under the second clause of an act
approved February 28, 1883, (Acts 1883, p.
49), which grants such an exemption upon
"the property of any county, city, town
or township."
Do the provisions of Sec. 6,818 render
this land, which is exempt in the hands of
the county, liable to the burden of taxation because it is used by the society mentioned?     That   section   is  as   follows;
"When real estate which is exempt from
taxation is leased to another whose property is not exempt, and the leasing of
which does not make the real estate taxable, the leasehold estate and appurtenances shall be listed, as the property of
the lessee thereof, or his assignee, as real
estate." I do not think this section is applicable. The only tangible right which
the society possesses is to insist that it
shall not be deprived of the use of the
land unless it is sold. Moreover, the statute authorizing the land to be purchased
does not direct that the society shall pay
any rental,though it might be permissible
for the board and society to so agree.
From the sections already considered, and
from other sections authorizing allowances to be made by the county to such
societies and directing the payment to
them of certain license fees, (See's 5,806
and 5,270), it is clear that such societies are
an object of legislative favor, that ho direct quid pro quo is expected, but the
expenditure is deemed warranted by
the public benefits accruing from the advancement of the industries which are
fostered by such societies. It cannot be
intended that it was the legislative purpose to provide real estate for the use of
agricultural societies, and afford them the
pecuniary assistance which I have pointed
out, and yet to compel them to pay a
rental on such real estate. From the fact
that the society enjoys but a tenancy at
will at most, and that the ordinary incident of a lease—the rental—is lacking, I
think that the interest of the society in
the land is not a leasehold estate within
the meaning of section 6,318. Since lt is
clear that the Legislature intended to permit the county to make an unrestricted
donation of the use of the land for the
purpose mentioned, and as there is no
statute subjecting the land to taxation in
the hands of the society, it ought not to
be held that taxes can be collected thereon
from the society in derogation of the spirit
of the grant.
I therefore advise you that the society is
not liable to   pay taxes on the   land mentioned. Bespectfully submitted,
Lewis T. Michener,
Attorney-General.
Tri-County Fair Association.
Dear Indiana Farmer:
A fair circuit association was organized
at the tri-county fair at Warren, Huntington county, Ind., during the fair on the
evening of the Oth of September, 1887, after
previous announcement. The following
officers were elected: Adam Foust, Warren, president; Joshua Strause, Arcana,
secretary; S. C. Goush, Warren, Cyrus
Matler, Marion, T. W. Logan, Lafontaine,
Bobert Zogue, Fairmount, Y. T. Williams,
Hartford City, J. D. Goodwin, Montpelier,
D. C. Christian, Huntington, Mr. Myers,
North Manchester,.vice-presidents. The
committee on constitution, T. W. Logan,
Joshua Strange and Adam Foust. On
clissitication, J. L. Thompson, Cyrus Neal,
Warren Mason, Cyrus Matler, Samuel
Morrison. The committee are to meet at
Marion, Nov. 25 at 10 a. m., and the day
following is the regular meeting at 10
o'clock, in the probate court room.
Joshua Stranoe, Sec'y.
Adam Foust, Pres't.
Arcana, Ind., Nov. 10.
Keeping- Potatoes.
Editors In'diana Farmer:
In No. 43, October 22d, you give mode
for winter care of potatoes which is a good
one—please say to your friends after preparing the potatoes as suggested by you—
to sprinkle a little slacked lime on each
layer as the potatoes are placed in a heap.
I think they will find, as I have from five
years experience, that the potatoes will
keep much better.       Ino. W. Carroll.
Lynchburg, Va