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HORTICULTURE 



May 3, 1913 



CONDUCTED BY 



OUTDOOR VEGETABLES AND FRUIT 



Questions by our readers In line with any of the topics presented on this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Jenkins. Such communications should inrarlably be addressed to the office of HORTICULiTCRB. 



Onioni 



Onions should be sown now as soon as the ground 

 can be got in nice friable condition for seed sowing. A 

 prime requisite for a good bed of onions is a well pre- 

 pared, finely raked bed, and fortunately this crop makes 

 no objection to being planted on the same ground from 

 year to year; in fact it seems to thrive the better for it. 

 Onions are gross feeders and there will be a vast dif- 

 ference in the weight of crops lifted from a compara- 

 tively poor soil and those from a soil which has been 

 well enriched. However, like all good things, manuring 

 may be overdone, especially if the manure be very rank. 

 When you see a crop fail to make bulbs and running all 

 to neck you can be sure that the feeding has been over- 

 done. Soot, salt and lime are three things that onions 

 seem to revel in when the ground is lightly dusted over 

 with these at frequent intervals. In sowing onions do 

 not cover the seed heavily, nor tamp the soil if it is 

 the least bit sticky, but if the soil is in just the right con- 

 dition for seed-sowing, neither too wet nor too dry, then 

 a light tamping with the back of a rake is advisable. 

 Sow the seed moderately thick and space the rows about 

 a foot apart. 



Onion Grub or Maggot 



This pest is a great scourge if it once obtaiiis a foot- 

 hold in the garden. The parent fly is like a small house 

 fly and it lays its eggs on the young seedlings. These 

 eggs offer hatching out in the grub form eat their way 

 to the center of the plant and the plant turns yellow 

 and dies. There appears to be no very successful means 

 known of preventing the ravages of this pest except 

 sowing the seed in flats or frames and transplanting 

 the young plants. For some reason or another they 

 never seem to bother a transplanted onion. Treating 

 infected soil during the fall after the crop has been re- 

 moved may be useful and such things as formalin, gas- 

 oline, or kerosene would undoubtedly kill off any of the 

 pupae which came within its reach. However, as long 

 as transplanting is such a sure and simple remedy it is 

 hardly worth bothering with other things except where 

 onions are grown on a large scale for market. 



Exhibition Onions 



These should now be in cold frames or a very cool airy 

 greenhouse, and should be gradually hardened off pre- 

 paratory to planting outside. They should be but rare- 

 ly syringed, as that tends to make them too soft, but the 



greatest care must be exercised in the watering, guard- 

 ing especially against the plants getting dry. Treat 

 the leeks just the same as the onions. 



Sowing Peas for Succession 



It is time now to get in some more peas and sowings 

 of several kinds at once may be made if such varieties 

 are chosen as will naturally succeed each other. If you 

 dig out trenches of one to two feet deep for the peas and 

 put manure in the bottom you will be able to harvest a 

 much better crop of better peas than by sowing in the 

 ordinary manner. But be sure to use only well-rotted 

 manure for if it is light and full of undecayed straw 

 more harm than good is likely to come from its use as 

 it will lie in the trench in a semi-dry state cutting off 

 the rise of water from below. 



Nitfo-Bacteria Coltutes for Peas 



The use of nitro-bacterine for legumes generally is 

 coming more and more into favor with the most pro- 

 gressive growers and good results may be confidently ex- 

 pected from its use on many soils, especially the lighter 

 sandy soils. The Cornell Agricultural College at 

 Ithaca, N. Y., will send you some for the cost of postage 

 with full directions for its use. 



Cauliflower, Cabbage and Brussels Sprouts 



These should be planted out now and the richtest 

 ground you have will be none too rich. Give a good 

 watering to each plant as soon as planted, and mulch 

 tliem with a mixture of half-rotted manure and leaves. 

 In planting out any of these crops, either choose a cloudy 

 day or else do the planting as late as possible in the 

 afternoon. 



Hardening 



Globe artichokes ought to be exposed to full air now, 

 day and night, unless it looks like freezing as in the 

 gradual hardening of crops which are to be moved from 

 the greenhouse or frames to outdoor planting lies a 

 great deal of the after success of the plants and this 

 matter will pay for careful thought and study. 



Greenfly and Spider 



Make sure that the crops above referred to are thor- 

 oughly clean as they will be much easier cleaned now 

 of any insect pests than after being planted out. 



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