REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 101 



It would appear from the past two seasons' observations that straw or 

 excelsior in the pans offers a better landing for the flies to sip the liquid than 

 small chips of wood which become waterlogged. The question of the amount 

 of time required to fill the pans with liquid was checked up at each field and 

 very little difference was noted in the quantities used by each grower or the 

 time required to fill them. 



Growers came in from other districts to see the work and many more 

 tried out the pan system with success. It seems advisable to set the pans 

 earlier on the sandy loam than on the cooler clay soils and growers seemed 

 uncertain as to the exact time to set out the pans due to the weather conditions. 

 The loss in treated plots at the College was 1.5% and .8%, while the untreated 

 plot showed fully 25% injury by the 20th of June. 



The untreated field lying between the two different fields treated by 

 Messrs. J. J. and M. McEvoy showed a 40% loss due to maggot as in some 

 patches practically every plant had several maggots in the bulb. One field 

 of Mr. J. J. McEvoy 's onions showed losses due to the onion smut {Urocystii 

 cepulae) for all it was treated with the formaldehyde drip when sowing, the 

 quantity applied was too small to be effective. This work will be carried out 

 again during seeding in 1923 and six hundred to seven hundred gallons applied 

 per acre. 



The planting of trap crop onions in the rows where the pans will later be 

 placed was the outstanding success of the season's work as the old bulbs used 

 produced large soft tops, which were very much larger than the seedlings and 

 attracted the adult flies. These trap plants were later pulled and destroyed 

 and in all cases the larvae were found infesting the stalk. The trap crop not 

 only attracted the flies to the pans, but also carried a large number of the eggs 

 which would have been deposited on the young seedlings. 



Many more growers affected with this pest will carry out control measures 

 in 1923, as already two gardeners in Richmond have asked for information and 

 assistance. These men have given up trying to produce this crop due to their 

 heavy annual losses. The work therefore appears to have been profitable and 

 successful and should be extended in 1923. 



