Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/789

 Popular Science Monthly

��'73

��Cabbage Root Mas^gots and How to Control Them

CABBAGE and related crops frequent- ly suffer severe injury from the cab- bage maggot. Young plants are most seriously affected, the maggots eroding the outer surface and boring into the interior

���The cabbage maggot. A, female fly; B, head of male; C, maggot; D, anal end; E, puparium

of the roots, devouring the tender rootlets and frequently penetrating the lower portion of the stalk.

This insect, also known as the radish maggot, is an imported pest, and it does very serious injury throughout the North- ern States and Canada, attacking all forms of crucifers, whether wild or culti- vated. In the above-mentioned region it is the cause of more or less loss to the crops year after year, but, as with other destructive insects, it is much more abundant in some seasons than in others.

Since this species also is a root feeder, the remedies prescribed by the U. S. States Department of Agriculture for the seed corn maggot are applicable. In addition there are certain preventive and other measures for its destruction that have been found successful, their use being justified by the value of the plants.

To be thoroughly effective these meth- ods should be employed before the in- sect's eggs are laid. A common method for deterring the parent flies from de- positing their eggs consists in placing sand soaked in kerosene — a cupful to a bucket of dry sand — at the base of the plants, along the rows. This mixture will also kill young maggots that might attempt to work through it.

When the maggot attacks radish, or other plants than the cabbage and the cauliflower, prepare a solution as follows

��and apply around the stalk of the plants affected. Add to 1 lb. of soap boiled in 1 gal. of water, ] ^ gal. of crude carbolic acid and dilute the whole with 35 parts of water. It is best to use this mixture a day or two after the plants are up or transplanted, and repeat every week or ten days until about the third week in May, after which there is less danger.

Although laborious, hand picking has the merit of being effective, and is prac- ticed with considerable success by ex- tensive cabbage growers, but it is not practicable with radish and similar crops. It consists in pulling up the young plants, examining the roots for eggs and maggots and crushing with the hand or by washing the roots in a strong solution of soap and then replanting. By looking closely, the minute white eggs may be seen about the stalks of the young cabbages, and if the earth is raked away so as to expose the eggs to the sun they will dry up, thus preventing the maggots from hatching. Afterwards the plants should be hilled. In most cases the plants will show no evil effects from this treatment after two or three weeks have elapsed.

��Cutting a Heater Pipe with a Can Opener

WHILE replacing some hot air heater pipe a householder found it neces- sary to cut off part of a section. Lacking

���Method of applying a can opener to the metal for 'cutting around a heater pipe

a pair of tinner's shears, he used an ordinary can-opener in the manner shown. The starting cut was made with a chisel. The can opener, while cutting, also produced a nice, uniform flare, very con- venient for the insertion of the end of another section. — James M. Kane.

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