THE CABBAGE MAGGOT IN EELATION TO THE 

 GROWING OF EARLY CABBAGE.* 



W. J. SCHOENE. 



SUMMARY. 



The cabbage maggot is the principal handicap in the production 

 of early cabbage and cauliflower. The insect is present in most 

 communities where early cabbage is grown and occasionally causes 

 extensive damage to this crop. 



Of the insecticides that are employed to destroy maggots about 

 the roots of the plants, carbolic-acid emulsion has generally been 

 regarded as the most efficient. Tests with the emulsion at recom- 

 mended strengths have demonstrated that it will prevent the 

 hatching of the eggs and is fatal to the younger stages of the larvae. 

 It may, however, cause injury to young seedlings and is not a safe 

 remedy for the treatment of plants recently set in the field. 



The value of tar pads, or hexagonal tar-paper collars, for the 

 purpose of preventing the adult of the cabbage maggot from placing 

 eggs about the stems of the plants has been previously demonstrated, 

 but, in spite of its effectiveness, this method of protecting cabbage 

 has not been generally adopted by truck growers. The tests herein 

 described show that tar pads will protect early cabbage from the 

 pest at a cost of about $1.40 per thousand plants. Truck growers 

 who are subject to losses by the cabbage maggot are urged to test 

 the tar pads experimentally as a basis for more extensive operations 

 against this pest. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The cabbage maggot (Pegomya brassicce Bouch6) annually 

 occasions extensive losses to vegetable-gardeners and cabbage- 

 growers. Its importance in the production of late cabbage and 

 methods for preventing its destmctiveness in seedbeds have been 

 discussed in two bulletins (301 and 334) of this Station. The purpose 

 of this publication is to discuss its injurious work in relation to the 

 growing of early cabbage, and to point out, on the basis of various 

 experimental operations, the merits and uses of carbolic-acid emulsion 

 and tar pads for the protection of plantings. 



* Reprint of Bulletin No. 382, April; for Popular Edition see p. 926. 



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