336 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



7-jointed antennae, those of the larva being 4-jointed. The sec- 

 ond joint is exactly barrel-shaped, with two ridges or lines sur- 

 rounding it, 3d and 4th joints long, ovate, the 3d being a little 

 larger than the fourth, and with about twelve transverse lines, 

 there being about eight on the 4th joint, from the end of which 

 projects a remarkable tubercle, as seen in the figure. The 5th 

 joint is square at the end, with about eleven transverse lines, 

 and three or four stout hairs externally ; 6th joint minute and 

 spherical, while the 7th is three times as long as the 6th, and is 

 finely striated, and with four unequal stout hairs. It is just 

 twice the length of the female, measuring .08 inch. 



The best remedy of a preventative nature against further 

 ravages, after this insect has made its appearance, is to build a 

 bon-fire upon the diseased patch, pull up the onions about, and 

 throw them into it. By thus sacrificing a few onions at the out- 

 set, the evil may be nipped in the bud. For remedies less effect- 

 ive we would recommend showering the plants with strong 

 soapsuds, or sprinkling them with sulphur, or the use of a solu- 

 tion of copperas, such as is used in killing the currant saw-fly, 

 i. e., a solution of a pound of copperas to ten gallons of water. 

 The use of a carbolate of lime or air-slacked lime may also be 

 recommended. 



A heavy shower of rain will cause them to disappear for a 

 while, and they probably only appear in such overwhelming 

 numbers as this past year in consequence of the summer being 

 an unusually dry and warm one. 



The Onion Fly. — This maggot, which attacks the roots of the 

 onion, is as abundant and destructive as ever. Its work, how- 

 ever, ceases about the time the Thrips is most abundant. The 

 maggots make their appearance in Essex County about the 

 middle of May, and by the third week in August most of them 

 change into the pupa or chrysalis state. As a preventative mea- 

 sure worth adopting is one suggested to me by Mr. Ware, i. e., 

 to sow the seeds two inches deeper than usual so that the fly 

 cannot so readily get to it to lay its eggs. 



The Imported Cabbage Caterpillar and its Parasite. — This 

 caterpillar was fully described, and its habits and ravages fully 

 set forth in our last year's report. During the past summer it 



