404 



The Eradication of Wild Onion. 



Rainfall at Woburn Experimental Station, 1911. 



January 

 February 

 March 

 April . 

 May . 

 June . 



22 Tudor Street, 



London, E.C. 



1911 

 In. 

 •37 

 •99 

 1 32 

 1-76 

 2-58 

 4-23 



Total . . . 19-24 



J. Augustus Voelcker. 



THE ERADICATION OF WILD ONION. 



Wild Onion (Allium vineale) is known as a most trouble- 

 some weed, alike on arable land and in pasture. On the former 

 it may taint corn crops in which it occurs, rendering the corn 

 unfit for milling ; so also with " seeds hay "; while, when existing 

 on dairy pastures, it will readily communicate its objectionable 

 odour to milk. It is seldom found on light land, but only on 

 heavy clay land, and, when present, may sometimes spread to 

 such an extent as to render a field quite unculturable. Its 

 spread, and the consequent difficulty of getting rid of it, are 

 increased by the fact that it possesses three different methods 

 of propagation': (1) by seed borne on a flowering head ; (2) by 

 " bulbils " or " aerial bulbs " borne on the flower-head ; from 

 this they detach themselves and, falling on the ground, give rise 

 to a new plant ; (3) by " off-sets " from the bulb itself, these 

 separating themselves in considerable number and each l)eing 

 capable of starting a fresh plant. 



Wild onion does not occur on the light sandy loam of the 

 Woburn Experimental Farm, but in a field of clay land on an 

 adjoining farm it grows freely, and part of the field is so 

 infested with the weed that a corn crop is never successful 

 here. 



.Ix Experiments on eradication of this pest were commenced 

 at the Wol)urn Pot-culture Station in 1899, and have been 

 continued ever since. The first attempts were directed to 

 ascertaining whether any " chemical " treatment would destroy 

 the wild onion and prevent its spread ; further, the use of lime 

 and gas lime was tried ; and thirdly, the adoption of means for 

 altering the mechanical and physical conditions of the soil. 



' For Illustrations of these methods, see Journal R.A.S.E., Vol. 62, 1901, 

 page 339. 



