IC 



Setting. 



^Yhen cabbage and cauliflower plants are set out the soil should 

 be tightly pressed around the stem of the plant at the surface, 

 and the soil itself should be pressed down smooth, flat and firmly. 

 The newly-hatched maggot is very feeble and if it fails to get 

 under cover promptly it is killed by the sun or falls victim to 

 some of the prowling predatory insects that are continually on the 

 lookout for food. On heavy soils this in itself affords a large 

 measure of protection, and plants on such soils are not so much 

 attacked. On lighter, sandy soils it w^ill be less useful, but wnll 

 add to the difficulties of the maggot in establishing itself. 



PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 



^\'hile cultural methods and the selection of the time and place 

 of planting help much in preventing the deposition of eggs, a watch 

 should be kept for the latter, and when they are once observed it 

 means active measures and thorough work to prevent the larvse 

 from gaining entrance to the plant and becoming established. 

 Stress has been laid by some observers on the fact that the eggs 

 laid on the ground do not readily hatch after they have been dis- 

 turbed, and it has been suggested that when they are observed the 

 earth around the plants should be scraped toward the center of the 

 rows. This will cause some of the eggs to be exposed and dry up, 

 or the young maggots from those that hatch will not be able to find 

 food within their reach. As some of the eggs are also deposited on 

 the plants, the latter should be rubbed, so as to destroy any that 

 may be on them. This may be practicable where only a few plants 

 are raised, but when they are grown on a large scale it would not 

 be. nor in any case with turnips and radishes. 



A number of substances have been used placed on the ground 

 around the base of the plants, partly as repellants, partly as de- 

 structive agents. It is questionable whether many of these act as 

 direct repellants or really disguise the odor of the plants, so that 

 they are not recog-nized as proper food by the insects, although this 

 is apparently the case, to some extent at least, with the lime and 

 ■carbolic acid mixture mentioned later. What they do, however, is 

 to form coverings around the plants, and so prevent the maggots 



