246 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETABLES 



seed-corn maggot (page 108). In addition bisulphid of car- 

 bon is desirable for the treatment of stored onions. 



Cutworms (Euxoa messoria, etc.) — Onions, as has been 

 stated, are not particularly favored by many insects of om- 

 nivorous tendencies, but the variegated cutw^orm is quite de- 

 structive to it and there is one 

 other species, the dark-sided 

 cutworm, which might well 

 be called the onion cutworm, 

 from the great injuries 

 which it causes to this crop. 

 In 1885, near Goshen, New 

 York, this cutworm (shown 

 in figure 160) threatened the 

 extinction of the onion in- 

 dustry, the annual value of 

 which was estimated at half 

 a million dollars. Although 



Fig. 160. -Dark-Sided cutworm (£.xo^m..- ^^^ j^ worked day and 



soyia). fl, Cutworm; 6, moth. (After Riley) . 



night to keep down the pest, 

 the yield was reduced during that and the following year about 

 one-half, or a total cash loss of about $500,000. 



Remedies. — This species can be treated in the usual manner 

 for cutworms. 



The Onion Thrips. — For an account of the onion thrips see 

 page 89. 



RHUBARB 



Rhubarb or pie-plant is rather unusually exempt from in- 

 jurious attack by insects, a fact which is largely to be accounted 

 for by the rapid and early growth of this plant, its vigor, and 

 large stalks and leaves. No natural enemies appear to have 

 been introduced with it, and it generally attains full market 

 growth before the appearance of most insects which might 



