196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



will see them in your field just before your onions come up, as 

 you walk along, and they will fly before you, but they will 

 not go more than six or eight feet before they will light. 

 As soon as the onion comes up, they will deposit their eggs, 

 six or eight in a bunch, either right on the little onion itself, 

 or on a small lump of earth near by. They seem to under- 

 stand the necessity of a favorable location. These eggs will 

 hatch just exactly at the right time. Then the little rascals, 

 so small that you can hardly see them, seek a livelihood, — 

 which is perfectly natural. They are not strong enough to 

 eat directly into the onion, but they seem to understand the 

 circumstances perfectly. They, will follow the side of the 

 onion down to get at the bottom, where the roots come out 

 from the onion. The onion is formed by layer after layer, 

 and right in the centre there is an opening directly into the 

 heart of the onion. There is naturally a little opening there, 

 so that these little maggots can crawl in without having to 

 eat in, and when they get there, they are perfectly satisfied, 

 and there they eat the heart of the onion. Their neighbors 

 will come in, and by and by one onion will have a dozen or 

 more maggots, and that is death to the onion. They w T ill kill 

 one and go to the next, and so on. I have studied their 

 habits a great deal, and I felt that if a way could be discov- 

 ered to prevent their getting into the onion, it would be all 

 right. It occurred to me that if the seed of the onion were 

 planted so deep that these little maggots, that' are so delicate 

 and tender, would not be able to get down so deep to enter 

 the heart of the onion, they might be headed off and their 

 plans frustrated somewhat. Well, that is so. That is the 

 remedy. But in attempting to get the benefit of that remedy 

 you may lose your crop. If you plant your onion seed more 

 than two inches deep, the seed will not grow. We ordinarily 

 plant it about an inch deep, but it is safe to put the seed in 

 about one and a half inches deep, not more, and two if the 

 seed is first rate ; most of it will come up. In planting it that 

 depth, it is necessary to use a little more seed, because some 

 of it will not grow planted so deep as that ; but that, I believe, 

 is the only remedy against the onion maggot. 



Question. Will you please state what kind of soil is best 

 for the growth of onions ? 



