August 21, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
175 
Fig. 33.—The Onion grub 
in the bulb. 
Now, the majority of our works upon horticulture io which mention 
is made of the Onion fly, state that the eggs of the insect are deposited 
upon the young leaves, the maggots proceeding towards the bulb as 
the plant grows ; but it is a fact well known to gardeners that the 
bulb of the Onion may be found affected when the leaves show no 
traces of the insect. The detection of A. platura as a foe to the 
Onion led to the conjecture that this species was the one that resorted 
to the leaves, and that A. ceparum placed its eggs upon the bulb. 
Unfortunately for this theory, however, Mr. Malcolm of Dalkeith 
took off young Onions without bulbs maggots, which were duly 
reared, and examples of both species made their appearance. As 
one theory may be as good as another, I will give my own—viz., that 
the first brood of flies of either species usually deposits eggs upon 
the leaves, but the after broods (for it is admitted several broods may 
be produced in one season) come at once to the Onion bulb for this 
purpose. 
The familiar Onion fly (A. ceparum, fig. 32) is the more abundant 
species, about half the size of the house fly, the males ashy grey, and 
the females browni-h. Both have clear wings veined with yellow. To 
this the Leek fly (A. platura) has a close resemblance in size and 
colour, but it is rathm darker. The larvrn or maggots (fig. 33) of 
the two can scarcely be distinguished from each 
other. These are yellowish white, legless, thick¬ 
ening from the head to the tail, which is studded 
with bristles. That they can feed upon the 
leaves as well as the bulb of the Onion is 
evident ; their preference is for the latter. 
When adult they quit the plant to become pupm 
in the earth, the exception to the rule being 
where Onions are gathered in autumn contain¬ 
ing maggots, when they change within the bulb. 
There is an emergence of flies during April. 
These come from pupae that have remained from 
the previous autumn, and more flies emerge in 
June, followed by a third or even a fourth 
brood, since in warm weather the maggots grow 
rapidljq and from egg to fly may not occupy 
much beyond a month. We are indebted to 
Miss Ormerod for pointing out a fact previously 
unnoticed, that these maggots can perform journeys from bulb to 
bulb should they be needing a fresh supply of food. 
There is one circumstance which is somewhat helpful to the 
eradication of this pest, that affected Onions speedily show signs of 
the maggot’s presence, and they should, of course, be at once removed. 
This removal, supposing the plants have made some progress, is not 
to be done by hand-pulling, Avhich proves unsatisfactory. They 
should be dug up with a spud and promptly destroyed. Mr. W. 
Taylor of Longleat has stated that he has often detected the maggot 
in plants while still only about the diameter of a knitting-needle, 
when he removes and burns them. Unfortunately, as he says, many 
gardeners pull up such Onions to throw upon the rubbish heap. A 
question of special interest concerns the use or non-use of certain 
kinds of manure. Thus, it appears to be agreed that the maggot of 
the Leek fly is occasionally to be found swarming in dung, and we 
want to ascertain whether by applying such manure to Onions or to 
Leeks we shall draw off the insects from the plants, or really 
aggravate the mischief. The strong odour of decaying “ Indian ” 
rape cake has been proved to attract the flies, which lay their eggs 
in the substance, and then the maggots will feed upon it. One 
instance at least is recorded where this cake, teeming with maggots, 
was used to dress Onions, and a fair crop was obtained. The mass 
of evidence is certainly in favour of well manuring the ground early 
in the year as a preparative for sowing, the choice of manure depend¬ 
ing on the soil. A correspondent of the Gardeners’ Chronicle strongly 
recommends the addition of clay to a liquid manure where the soil 
is light ; also, “when Onion beds have been much infested, it is a 
good plan to deeply trench the ground in winter, turning the top 
spit to the bottom of the trench. By this means the grubs are buried 
so deep that the flies cannot come up from them.” And it is repeat¬ 
ing, perhaps, what most gardeners are aware of, that Onions are less 
likely to be troubled with fly if the ground is changed every year. 
Of other preventive means it may suffice to note that some of our 
friends in the north speak highly of the application of sand saturated 
with paraffin after sowing, and in England a favourite plan with some 
is to lay in a mixture of soot and wood ashes at the same period. 
'Chis not only kills insects, but also promotes the growth of the plants. 
Solution of alum has been praised as a good and cheap remedy. I 
pr su ne it is so applied that the leaves of the Onion are moistened, 
and the soil round the bulb. When much diluted paraffin used care¬ 
fully and thrown as a spray over Onion beds has been found fatal 
to the maggot, if no time has been lost. Soapsuds poured over the 
plants by means of a can with a rose kills maggots, keeps ofl: the 
flies, and nourishes equal to manure. Opunions are divided upon 
the advisability of transplanting Onions. It appears that when the 
plants are removed the bulbs are less exposed to the attacks of the 
11}% though some advocate raising them where they have been sown. 
Where not transplanted they might be earthed-up, some fine rich 
soil being run along the rows and well pressed down. Of other 
occasional enemies to the Onion it may suffice to mention those most 
often noticed. The “ wireworm,” that is a larva of an Elater or 
“ click ” beetle, may attack the roots. Eggs are laid by the parent 
beetles in spring, and the grubs feed on through the summer and 
autumn. Several of the remedies recommended for the fly would 
free the plants from this insect. A maggot that produces one of the 
Hawk flies (Eumerus striatus), a brown and rather bristly larva, has 
been taken in the leaves of the Onion and Carrot. One reason for 
sparing its life would be that the mature fly is a destroyer of a 
variety of insects. What is sometimes called the Leatherjacket 
grub, the larva of Tipula oleracea, which is not uncommon as a 
subterranean feeder in kitchen gardens, might possibly infest the 
Onion, but 1 have no authenticated complaints about its doings in 
this way. —Entomologist. 
TAUNTON DEANE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
OxoE more has a decided success crowned the efforts of the indefatigable 
Secretary and Committee of this flourishing Society. A fine day (which 
has been fortunate enough for many years to secure), a most liberal schedule 
amounting to upwards of £250, and an intense interest excited in the town 
and neighbourhood at this the great holiday of the year—all combine to 
make the Taunton Show one of the very best, if not the best, of autumn 
shows. It does one’s heart good to see the general interest taken in the 
Society by all parties : the county gentry make a point of being at home and 
of attending the Show in large numbers, while the residents in the town 
itself do their very utmost to show that they mean to make the Exhibition a 
great success. One wondered how the Exhibition tents would be filled, for 
I knew that Mr. Lawless had sold his plants and given up exhibiting, that 
Mr. Williams had done the same, and so that we should not see the wonderful 
plants that Mr. Cole and Mr. Tudgey used to bring to fill up the tents. 
Lucombe, Pince & Co. had for some years given up exhibiting, so that it was 
a serious question how the spaces they used to occupy would be filled, and 
yet after all I do not recollect any previous show which excelled it, and very 
few that equalled it. This was mainly due to the marvellous exhibits of an 
almost entirely new exhibitor, Mr. Cleave of Crediton, whose gardener, Mr. 
Lock, has established a claim to be one of the very best plant-growers we 
have ; and yet, strange to say, he was never brought up as a gardener, never 
took to it until he was past twenty (having been previously a gentleman’s 
servant), and thus has established the truth that, as with poets, “ the gar¬ 
dener is born, not made.” It must have been in him, and I speak not on my 
own authority alone, but on that also of one who was in his day our very 
first plantsman, that never at any autumn show had twelve such plants been 
exhibited as those shown by him on this occasion ; and the extent to which 
he contributed to the success of the Exhibition may be gathered from the 
fact that he took twelve first prizes and one second in all the principal classes 
of the Show. He told me that when he wished to exhibit his employer said 
to him, “ I don’t think it is any credit to a man to buy large plants and then 
show them.” So he set to work, and many of the plants shown had been 
grown by him from cuttings or very small plants. This would not apply to 
Heaths and such hard wooded things, but did apply to the Dipladenias and 
many of the Palms which were seen in his collections. Mr. Cypher, another 
self-made gardener, was as usual in fine form, but had in several classes to 
give way to his younger rival. And now let us take a glance at the 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
In the class for ten stove and greenhouse plants in flower (open) Mr. 
Cleave (gardener, Mr. Lock) was easily first with a wonderful lot of plants, 
consisting of Ixora Fraseri, Ixora Prince of Orange, and Ixora Williamsii ; 
Erica semula—this was the most marvellous plant of an Erica I ever saw; 
not only was there not an atom of foliage to be seen, but the blooms were 
literally in masses one on the other, presenting a sight ever to be remembered. 
Erica Fairrieana, Erica Marnockiana, very grand, and Erica oblata purpurea ; 
Dipladenia amabilis, beairtifully flowered ; Allamanda Hendersoni, very fine ; 
Eucharis amazonica, in splendid condition ; and Stephanotis floribunda. It is 
impossible to exaggerate the perfection in which these plants were exhibited. 
Mr. Cypher of Cheltenham was second with a very good lot, but not equal 
by a long way to Mr. Lock’s. It included Hsemanthus magnificus, Erica am- 
pullacea, Phoenocoma prolifera, Allamanda grandiflora, Bougainvillea glabra. 
Rhododendron Duchess of Edinburgh, a very fine dark flower, and evidently 
destined to make its mark as an exhibition plant; Erica Austiniana, Alla¬ 
manda nobilis, Clerodendron Balfourianum, Erica Irbyana, and Allamanda 
Hendersonii. ■ ^ 
In the class for six flowering plants Mr. Cleave was again first with 
beautiful plants of Erica tricolor Wilsoni, a grand plant; Dipladenia ama¬ 
bilis, Ixora Prince of Orange, Allamanda Hendersonii, Lapageria rosea 
wonderfully flowered, and Ixora Duffii. In the class for foliaged plants the 
order was reversed. Mr. Cypher was first with grand plants of Cordyline 
indivisa ; Croton angustifolius, a most splendid plant, beautifully coloured, 
and looking like a waterfall of burnished gold or a shower of falling rockets ; 
Latania borbonica ; Croton Queen Victoria, very fine ; Kentia Fosteriana, 
Cycas circinalis, and Cycas revoluta. Mr. Cleave was second, his best plants 
Cycas revoluta, Latania borbonica, Areca lutescens, Alocasia intermedia, 
Kentia Fosteriana, Croton Disraeli, Encephalartos villosus ampliatus. In the 
class for eight exotic Ferns Mr. Cleave was first with fine, clean, and 
grown plants of Cyathea dealbata, Nephrolepis davallioides furcans, Clei- 
chenia Speluncae, Cyatheamedullaris, Davallia Mooreana. Davallia polyantha, 
and Davallia Cooperi. Mr. Cypher was second with Neotopteris ^strahs, 
Dicksonia antarctica, Gymnogramma plumosa argyrophylla, Ac. Fuchsias 
are always .shown well in these western counties far better than near London, 
and some abundantly bloomed and well-grown plants were exhibited, Mi. 
H. Gidding taking first. The Zonal and other Pelargoniums occupied one side 
