There is an objection to the use of arsenite in that sodium arsenite is a soluble poison and will burn the leaves of the cabbage.  Of course, that is not particularly serious as those are the first leaves the cabbages have and the cabbage soon gets over any slight injury, but many truck gardeners probably would object to that.  In the onion you have a different shaped leaf, and the injury is not so apparent.  Last summer I found that New Orleans molasses would give you a little bit better result than the sugar, and it is cheaper.  The objection to the New Orleans molasses is the sticky nature of the material in handling.

I might mention in regard to opening cans of New Orleans molasses.  If you never opened one and try this treatment, be careful about opening the can.  The lid is pushed down tight and under warm conditions, or if the molasses has been in a warm room there is a certain amount of fermentation and gas under pressure, and if you pry it open quickly you find the lid flies up in the air and you will probably be smeared over with molasses.

I employed my spray, that is, one ounce of lead arsenate, one-half pint of New Orleans molasses and one gallon of water last season.  The check plots had cabbages attacked by the maggots, probably 10 or 15 per cent of the plants dying from the attack.  Last year was a very good season, that is, many of the plants seriously attacked put out roots again, and those were able to grow again in the sprayed plots.  The infestation of the sprayed plots was probably about 30 to 40 per cent. of the plants, but they only contained probably one maggot each, which is very slight and not sufficient to do any damage.

There is one market gardener whose cabbage patch we sprayed, I think, only a part of two rows, and we thought we would leave the rest of his patch as a control.  Apparently the amount of material we put on there was sufficient to attract the flies from the whole field.  Not a single cabbage died, and he was pleased with the result of the spray.

Mr. Miller:  What do you do for root aphis?

Mr. Moore:  Root aphis can very easily be controlled with tobacco extract.  It is put upon the root of any plant that is affected, a tablespoonful to a gallon of water.  There are a number of different tobacco extracts on the market.  Some of them contain 15 per cent. of nicotine, some contain 20, some 25 and some 40, and I think there is one brand that contains 45 per cent.  You will find that the brands that contain the most nicotine are the most expensive, but in proportion you use less material.  Thus 20 per cent. tobacco extract would take two tablespoonfuls to the gallon, while 40 per cent. would take only one.  It is the nicotine which is the working portion of it.

Mr. Miller:  Then you can use the black leaf forty?

Mr. Moore:  It is very good, it is 40 per cent. nicotine.  There is another product put out by the same company, a black leaf, only 15 or 20 per cent.  This is cheaper, but you have to use more of it.  If anything probably the more expensive would be the cheaper in the long run.