70 
ONIONS. 
it if exposed), by burying the bulb safely away, so that the flies 
could not get at it, we preserved it from attack. The flies must lay 
their eggs somewhere, and if they cannot get at the right place (for 
them) to lay them in, the eggs must be dropped where they either will 
not hatch or the maggots will perish. I have found the eggs in such 
cases laid too far up the leafage of the Onions to do any mischief, or 
merely dropped on the ground. 
On Jan. 25th, 1884, I had a trench dug as if for Celery, and in 
this, good manure was laid and covered over with a few inches of earth. 
Anthomyia ceparum. 
Onion Fly, maggot, and pupa ; magnified. Pupa in stored Onion. 
Lines showing nat. size. 
At the usual time in the spring I sowed Onions along the trench, dis¬ 
turbing the soil as little as possible, and also sowed Onions in the bed 
alongside. As the plants grew I had the earth from the sides of the 
trench gradually worked down upon them, which kept the bulbs fairly 
buried throughout the season, and also kept down the weeds. The 
row of Onions next the trench was also kept more or less covered, as 
the earth lay conveniently for spreading over the bulbs. 
The Onions in the trench throve remarkably well; those by them 
did well, but not so markedly; and on Sept. 10th, when the crop was 
raised, those from the trench gave a yield of sound and good bulbs, 
many of them very fine, and throughout the season there had been 
scarcely any attack of Onion Fly on these. This plan of growing in 
trenches could not be carried on easily on a large scale, but it has 
succeeded so well that this season I purpose growing my crop this way ; 
and it appears to me that in many cases it would answer well to have the 
beds slightly ridged for Onion growing. The ridged earth can readily 
be worked on to the bulbs, and, besides direct protection from fly-attack, 
which (as far as I can see from three years’ experiment) is afforded, 
much good is done by the weeds amongst the Onions being smothered 
