I 
CARROT FLY. 
19 
“ I generally apply 10 cwt. of soot per acre, sown along the rows 
of plants about ten days after singling, for the earliest part of the crop, 
immediately after for those that are last done, as they are generally a 
good size before I get over them all, my Carrot-plot being large. I 
have usually only a small proportion spoiled, for the most part round 
the edge, or any pieces carted on in wet weather. 
“ This year the ten outside drills, adjoining seven potato drills, 
and then standing Wheat, were badly affected, whilst those having 
Mangold plants, in place of Potatoes and Wheat on the same side, were 
free. Any part sheltered or shaded by trees, fences, standing grain, or 
even by Potatoes, I find to suffer most. 
“ If the wind blows anything like constantly in one direction 
during the middle of July the Flies I find principally approach from 
the opposite direction, guided, I suspect, by the scent of the plants.” 
Probably it is the power of smell (which is possessed strongly by 
some insects) that attracts the “Rust” Fly to Carrot beds that have 
just been thinned, and consequently give off much scent from the 
bruised leafage, and which makes it so particularly desirable not to 
throw the soil more open than can be helped in the operation, or, 
where it is possible, to water well, so as to close all cracks against the 
entrance of the Fly. —Ed. 
Mr. Gr. McKinlay, writing from the Gardens, Kilconquliar, Fife- 
shire, gives the following note of the good effect of sowing on holes 
filled with prepared soil where the land is not suitable for Carrot 
crops. He says :— 
“I had the ground well manured and rough-dug by the 20th of 
November, being a strong advocate for autumn digging, so that the 
soil may get thoroughly pulverized by exposure to frost during winter. 
On the 23rd of April the ground was forked and raked for the 
reception of the seeds, which we sow at the above date. The follow¬ 
ing day a large quantity was sown, but before sowing a Potato-dibber 
was used for making holes four inches apart and seven inches deep. 
These were afterwards filled with leaf-mould, sand, and charcoal, a 
few seeds being deposited in each of the holes, and every other row 
was filled with pure sand. 
“ The seeds germinated satisfactorily, and looked well up to the 
20th of June, when Carrot Fly-attack set in, first affecting those sown 
in the garden soil proper (so to distinguish it), which disappeared like 
snow in a thaw. Those that were sown in pure sand, and in the 
mixture of sand , leaf-mould, and charcoal , suffered a little , but, after 
receiving an application of sooty water and paraffin oil mixed, the 
pest did not make such rapid progress, and at present we are lifting 
some very fine Carrots. 
“ This crop has never thriven satisfactorily in the garden here 
