Wheat Heads and Hessian Fly

Wheat and Fly.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Wheat Heads and Hessian Fly

Description

During the first half of the 1800s, a boom in wheat powered growth in the Genesee Valley--especially after construction of the Erie Canal enabled its shipping as a worldwide commodity. This item combines two engravings to better visualize the rise and fall of "Big Wheat" in the Genesee. The first image shows different types of wheat heads. Among the most commonly grown in the area was Genesee Red Chaff (discontinued due to its susceptibility to rust and fly larvae), White Flint, and Harmon's Improved White Flint. The second image shows what was called the "Hessian fly," due to its supposed importation by way of German mercenary troops during the 1770s. This xenophobic theory has been discredited. The Hessian fly is a midge whose larvae feed on the sap of grains like wheat and barley (which is why it also was called the Barley fly). Its effect on Western New York wheat farmers was disastrous, especially in combination with the competition from new, larger farms in the upper Midwest.

Publisher

E. Worthington

Date

1880

Contributor

Cooper, Ken

Source

F.W. O'Neill and H.L. Williams, The American Farmer's Hand-Book (New York: R.Worthington, 1880): 70, 643

Courtesy of Internet Archive

Format

jpeg, 474 KB

Type

Still image

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Printed engravings

Geolocation

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