The Onio'i 



143 



Onion maggoi' (Phorhia ceparum). — The parent fly lays lier 

 white elongate oval eggs on the plants near the base or in 

 cracks and crevices of the soil. The small whitish maggots, 

 about % in. long, work their way down the stem usually 

 inside the sheath. Young plants are killed ; later the mag- 

 gots burrow into the bulbs, causing decay. Control: Many of 

 the flies may be poisoned before laying their eggs by using 

 the following formula : 



Sodium arsenite % ounce 



Cheap molasses ....... 1 pint 



Water ' . . . . 1 gallon 



The mixture should be placed in tin cans cut down to a depth 

 of about 3 in. The tins should be distributed about the field 

 and kept filled from the time the onions first show above 

 ground till the injury is past. 



The" beginner is likely to be confused by the different 

 methods of propagating the onion; yet the various prop- 

 agation-forms of the plant represent only one species. 

 The case may be presented as follows: 



A. Propagated by means of bulbs : mostly for early or 

 spring onions. 



1. From sets, which are small onions of arrested de- 

 velopment that resume growth on being planted the 

 following spring. i 



2. From top onions, which are bulbels or small bulbs 

 produced on the flower-stalk in the place of flowers 

 and seeds. 



3. From multipliers, which are bulbs that break up into 

 two or more distinct bulbs when planted. 



B. Propagated directly from seeds: main field crop and 

 also some of the early table green onions. Crops grown 

 from seeds are often called " black seed onions," but 

 the name has no significance for all onion seeds are 

 black ; the contrast is with the bulb-propagated group. 



