112 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



very many good ones, and few indeed, 

 that are not j^ood ; but En<i;lish seed 

 is always to be preferred if keeping 

 qualities are desired. For a general 

 crop there are none belter than Read- 

 ing, White or Brown Globe, the White 

 Spanish, and James's Keeping, the 

 latter being perhaps the best keeper 

 of any, and the Globe the worst. The 

 old Strasburgli is a famous keeper, 

 and is good till |onions corns in again, 

 but it is going out of cultivation on ac- 

 count of its small size, Avhieh is scarcely 

 a fair objection, seeing that if the 

 bulbs are smaller, the same breadth of 

 gi'ound will grow a greater number of 

 them, and so make good the average 

 weight or qiiantity. 



There are two points of ^import- 

 ance very much overlooked by gar- 

 deners : one is, that the onion roots 

 deeply if it can, even fifteen or twenty 

 inches ; and the other is, that it thrives 

 best when the bed is kept firm on the 

 surface. Frequent hoeing is not at 

 all advisable. In making up beds for 

 onions, this should be thought of. 

 Plenty of well-decayed manure, very 

 deep digging, and good drainage are 

 points of much importance. The per- 

 fection of an onion-bed is one four feet 

 Avide, and as long as you please ; the 

 soil a deep, friable loam, that has 

 been heavily manured with stable 

 dung or night-soil some time before 

 planting, and when made up, brought 

 to a line condition, and nicely rounded 

 on tlie surface by the rake. 



To secure a heavy crop the seed 

 ought to be got in the first week of 

 March, but it is not of vital import- 

 ance to be particular even to a week 

 or two, for onions are rarely affected 

 either by weather or vermin. The 

 seed may be broadcast, and afterwards 

 made regular by thinning, or sown in 

 drills : the latter is preferable. Sow 

 when the ground is dry, in drills ten 

 inches or a foot apart, and sow thickly 

 in the drills. If you aim at large 

 bulbs for exhibition, or to astonish 

 the Browns when they visit you, let 

 the drills be fifteen inches apart, 

 and sow tliinl3\ The seed need onlj^ 

 be slightly covered, but inust be 

 trodden or beaten in firm, and hence 

 the necessity for dry weather ; for, 

 if the ground is wet, treading will 



only make it into pipeclay, and you 

 win, probably, never see the onions 

 that you hope for. If the weather is 

 obstinately wet, sow broadcast, and 

 rake it in, and gently beat the surface 

 I with the back of the rake. Now, to 

 grow really fine onions, it is necessary 

 ' not only to manure the ground libe- 

 rally, and to have it dug deep and 

 rendered very friable, but it is also 

 necessary to cover the whole bed with 

 a thin coating of fine charred rubbish, 

 saved dry on purpose, and this at the 

 time of sowing, instead of covering 

 the seed with moidd. Onions delight 

 in small charcoal, potash, and burnt 

 earth, and this is just what charred 

 rubbish ought to consist of. 



Now, as to thinning. If the soil 

 is thoroughly good, they may be left 

 pretty thick in the rows, and they will 

 all swell to a good useful size ; and a 

 dozen bulbs as large as apricots are 

 more profitable than two or three as 

 big as cricket-balls. I have had them 

 touching each other all over the bed, 

 and figliting for room, even to the 

 lifting of each other aside, on the plan 

 of mutual repulsion, and all of good 

 size and hard as bullets. Therefore, 

 though a moderate thinning is neces- 

 sary, and the young ones are very 

 useful for salading purposes, they may 

 be left pretty thick if the culture is 

 all right. Weeding is even more im- 

 portant than thinning. This must be 

 done well and frequently, for as the 

 grass does not spread over the ground 

 to choke the weeds, the latter have it 

 all their own way, and may most 

 efiectually choke the onions. As soon 

 as a little green s])rinkling of weeds 

 appear, take an old table-fork — for 

 there is nothing better — and lift every 

 weed with it, just loosening the sur- 

 face between them ; but do not hoc 

 between, or resort to an}- vigorous 

 measures to break the soil below the 

 surface. This weeding must be re- 

 peated as often as necessary, and the 

 ground kept quite clean. A weekly 

 dose of manure water, or even of weak 

 salt and water, will much improve 

 them, for they like moisture, and 

 must have enough of it. This is all 

 j'ou have to do, and as your back will 

 ache a little over the weeding, per- 

 haps it is enough ; but, remember this 



