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surface of the root. As they grow larger they penetrate the stem and when theie 

 is only one it appears to remain inside the stem; when, however, as is fiequently 

 the case, there are a dozen or more, most of them lie outside in the soil, which is 

 kept wet by the juices of the injured plant. 



The maggots when full grown arc white, about ^ inch in length, with the front 

 end pointed, and furnished with two hard black hoolc-like jaws. The hind end is cut off 

 obliquely and flattened with au irregular rosette of fleshy points round the margin, 

 and on the flattened surface two conspicuous dark-brown points, which are breathing 

 pores. These maggots are a great pest to the cabbage-gi-ower, destroying large 

 numbers of his plants when he thinks he has saved them from the omnivorous 

 cut-worms. 



Unless very numei'ous at the root of a cabbage it takes some time before the 

 injury becomes apparent. There is a common saying that " the maggot takes them 

 after the first thunderstorm in July." In the Ottawa district there is frequently a 

 thunderstorm early in July, followed by hot, muggy weather. This is the time that 

 cabbages which have been badly injured at their roots by the maggots succumb. 

 The injury has been going on for some time, but the June rains have enabled the 

 plant to preserve a healthy appearance ; immediately the hot weather comes it 

 turns pale and the leaves droop. If one of these plants be taken up it will be fre- 

 quently found that the roots and all the lower part of the stem have been utterly 

 destroj^ed, and many of the maggots are full grown. 



The past season was marked by the great abundance of this insect. In a large 

 patch of various kinds of cabbages, containing about 1,200 plants, which 1 examined 

 22nd June upon the Central Expei-imental Farm, I could find very few plants which 

 did not show the work of the maggot upon the roots or on the underground stem, 

 and in man}^ gardens from one-half to three-quarters of the crop was destroyed. 

 During the first part of July several letters were received, complaining of its rava- 

 ges, from various parts of the Dominion. Howevei", during the last week of June 

 I visited the County of Essex, and was much surprised and pleased to learn from 

 farmers and gardeners that this insect was practically unknown in the district 

 round Leamington. 



Remedies. — A satisfactory remedy for this insect has long been a desideratum. 

 From some experiments tried during the past season I have i-eceived «uch success 

 that although they are not yet complete and will require further verification, I con- 

 sider it well to relate the details, so that, should the remedy prove satisfactory, 

 others may have the advantage of the knowledge as soon as possible. 



Some three j'^ears ago I was told of some experiments, made by Mr. S. Grreen- 

 field, of Ottawa East, to destroy the onion maggot by the use of white hellebore. 

 This was made into a decoction, and watered along the rows of half a bed, with the 

 result that the onions upon that portion of the bed were ftir superior to those on the 

 part untreated. In fact, the onions were almost all sound, whilst the others were 

 nearly all destroyed. This led me to try the same remedy for the cabbage maggot, 

 and the result this jqqx has been successful beyond all my expectations. 



About Ist July the whole of the bed of 1,200 cabbages mentioned above was gone 

 over by m3\self and one assistant. One person carried a 3-gallon pail full of water 

 in which 2 oz. of white hellbore had been steeped, and an oi-dinary green-house 

 syringe, the other placing the left band beneath the cabbage, palm downwards, with 

 two fingers on each side of stem, drew away the surface soil from the root of the 

 cabbage, and at the same time, with the right h.-.'nd, jiulled the head a little over, so as 

 to expose the roots. About half a tea-cup-fuU of the liquid was then sj'ringed 

 forcibly round the roots, and the eailh was quickly pushed up again round the stem. 

 The result of this treatment was that only about 1 per cent, of the cabbages was lost. 



There is no doubt that the forcible syringing of the liquid removed the maggots 



to some distance from the roots; but by actual experiment it was found that the 



•white hellebore killed them also. Furthermore, the moisture was of gieat assistance 



to the cabbage in recovering from the injury. The power of the cabbage plant to 



(.survive and out-grow injury is very remarkable. Several plants of which the roots 



