15 



•parts of the country ; whole fields are frequently swept 

 :away by this pest, and the farmer's hopes with them. 

 By closely watching their habits, it will be found that 

 the onion maggots are the offspring of a small brown fly, 

 that, when startled, will fly about six feet and alight. 

 This fly deposites, either upon the young onion or upon 

 -a small lump of earth, from six to twenty eggs, which, 

 within a few days hatch • the very small maggots then 

 appear and immediately go down the young plant to the 

 bottom where the roots branch off from its centre. Here 

 the w^orm makes an easy entrance to the very heart of 

 the onion, followed by others of different ages, until one 

 plant contains twenty or more. There they are com- 

 pletely screened from view and all harm, while they eat 

 out the life and substance of one onion, and then pass on 

 to the next. This is their usual habit ; sometimes they 

 -eat directly through the side of the plant, though not 

 often. They pass through two or three generations dur- 

 ing the summer, but the last in the fall, instead of turn- 

 ing to flies, remain in the pupa state during the winter 

 and all affected onions containing them should be de- 

 stroyed. 



Having learned so much concerning their habits, the 

 -question arises, how can our crops be protected ? Gas 

 lime and other offensive smelling substances have been 

 tried in vain, for the mother fly seems to delight in them. 

 For many years my attention has been directed to this 

 subject, and I believe I have discovered a remedy. It 

 is the common practice to cover onion seed one inch 

 deep, and they will germinate better at that depth than 

 any other ; nearly all will germinate at two inches, while 

 none will grow if covered three inches deep. I have 

 found that by sowing the seed [an inch and a half or two 



