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Remedies. — Up to the present time it caunot Ije flaimetl tliat any perfectly 

 efficacious remedy has beeu tliseovered for root maggots. In certain years 

 they seem to be so extremely abumlant that even the best remedies merely 

 seem to prolong the lives of the plants, and only a very small proportion of a 

 crop can be saved. In ordinary years, however, much can be done to proteit 

 crops liable to attack, and the following are the remedies which have given 

 the best results : — 



For Onions. — White helleljore dusted along tlie rows once a week 

 from the time the young plants appeared above the ground gave com- 

 paratively clean onions, very few being attacked. Fresh gas lime broadcasted 

 over onion fields at the rate of two hundredweight to the acre had a similar 

 effect ; but. when the caustic lime came in contact with the young onions, 

 they were burnt out. ,\. light dressing between the rows of onions of the 

 same material gave almost as good results as where it was distributed over 

 the whole tield. When onions have begun to form their bulbs, the earth may 

 be hoed or brushed away right down to the roots, and in some years tUr 

 maggots (io not penetrate the bulbs. As soon as the earth is hoed away in 

 garden practice, a dusting along the rows with white hellebore makes the 

 protection more complete. 



Dressings of salt. Paris green and plaster, and wood ashes have been 

 found useless in protecting onions from the attacks of root maggots. 



For Cabbages. — (1.) Tarred Paper Disks. — Pieces of ordinary tarred 

 paper three inches in diameter, with a slit running to t:ie centre so as to 

 allow of their being placed around the stems of young cabbages and cauli- 

 flowers at the time of planting, and pressed down close to the ground, will 

 prevent to a large measure the flies from laying their eggs on plants so 

 protected, or will kill the young maggots. 



(2.) Insect I'owder. — About half a tea-cupful of a decoction of 

 Iiyrethrum insect powder (four ounces to a gallon of water), or of 

 white hellebore of the same strength, poured around the root or each plant, 

 after drawing awa.v the earth, right down to the roots will destroy an.\' 

 maggots which may have started to work. The earth should be put back 

 again and the plants well hilled uj), when new rootlets will soon be formed. 

 A light sprinkling of nitrate of soda, or some special fertilizer, will encourage :i 

 quick growth and much help the plants to overcome attack. Dressings of one 

 ounce to the square yard may be used for this purpose. Cabbage plants 

 should be examined late in June to see if the maggots are at work. The 

 earlier the treatment with insect powder or white hellebore is applied tho 

 more eflective it will be. If the mixture is applied to the roots with a force 

 pump, although more liquid is consumed, it has the advantage of dislodging 

 many of the maggots so that their injuries cease at once. 



(.3.) Cheese-cloth Inclosures. — A very effective and practical means of 

 procuring early ratllshes, cabbages and cauliflowers, perfectly free from root 

 maggots, is by growing them beneath cheap frames made of light wood 

 covered with cheese-cloth. A convenient size for small beds is 8 feet long, i' 

 feet wide and 2 feet high. This frame can be made for about 25 cents, of one 

 and a half inch square wood, nailed together at the corners, and with the 



