Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-09-06
INSECT ENEhAIES0F The onion
The Onion Maggot in Particular

| Orono, Me, Aug 2S-The following
has been made public by Charles D.
Woods, director of the Maine Agri-
cultural experiment station at the Uni
versity of Maine:
Thrips, particularly in the South, do
a good deal of damage to the onion
crop. Cut worms are occasionally
quite troublesome. But the insect that
makes onion growing difficult in some
northern localities, and the one most
commonly reported to the Maine Agri-
cultural Experiment Station is the on
ion maggot. This pest works at the
roots of the young seedlings and, &C
cording to the Farmers Bulletin of the
| United States Department of Agricul-
ture on 'Onlon Culture" there is no en-
tirely satisfactory means of controlling
it." The only method there suggested is
crop rotation and planting onions not
oftener than once in three years on the
same land.
There are two or three kinds of these
maggots that differ from each other
sufficiently 10 be Of interest to ento-
mologists but from the standpoint of
the grower they are much alike. 1t
| is probable that most of the DANA ga
| done in Maine is from the so-called
Imported Onion Maggot These mag
COTS are Matched from the eggs of a
| fly that looks quite bit like the ordi-
nary house fly. though smaller and
more slender. 1t belongs to the same
order as the fly that produces the rail-
road worm or apple maggot so destruc-
tive to apples, and to the currant fly
that causes the worm to appear inside
of the ripening currant and goose
berry.
During 1914 and 1915 the Maine Ag-
ricultural Experiment Station had up
on its summer staff DR.. H. F. SEVERN,
a specialist on fruit flies. His work
in Maine was limited to the apple
masgot and the currant fly. Before
coming to Maine he did part of sum-
mer's work in Wisconsin on the control
Of the imported onion maGgot which
had ruined many acres of onions in
that STATE. This work was not begun
until the first brood had done their
work and half of the crop was lost
This left a badly infested field and only
a short time in which to study the
effect of the method of control.
AS is we'll known to those who have
followed Doctor Severin's work at the
Maine Station on fruit flies, the time to
attack the pest is after the emergence
of the perfect fly and before she lays
her eggs. These fruit flies are on the
wing for quite a time and feed on wild
and cultivated flowers. They are at
tracted by sweets. If they are per-
suaded to eat a poisoned sweet syrup
| before they have deposited their eggs
they die without propagatng their
kind. The fly of the union maggot
likes sweets as well as do the apple
maggot and the currant fly. Fed in
captivity with diluted black strap
molasses they fed upon this sweet
ened liquid until their abdomens be-
came greatly distended." The use of
insoluble poisons is unsatisfactory be-
cause of the slow action but when fed
sweetened liquids to which soluble
poison was added they were speedily
killed. BY applying the sweetened
liquid tc plants here and there it was
found that the flies sought out these
and fed upon the adhering liquid If
all the flies could be attracted to feed
upon plants sprayed with a sweetened
liquid carrying a soluble poison. before
they lay their eggs the apple maggot,