April Ii.l876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKii: AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



269 



for many yoarg divided my ground between the two old varie- 

 ties named, and I have always had Onions when anyone else 

 had them, and by adhering to them as my staple sorts for 

 spring Bowing I am sanguine that I shall not fail in my supply. 



Now Brown Globe is James's Keeping, and White Spanish 

 is represented in the names given above. The finest type of 

 the former that has come under my notice is Magnum Bonnm, 

 and Bedfordshire Champion is but another name for Brown 

 (ilobe. The White Globe is a good Onion, and so is the Dept- 

 ford or old Strasburgh ; they may, indeed, be as good, but 

 they are not better than tlie sorts named. A good Onion 

 different from any of the above varieties I have also found 

 reliable— good in size, appearance, and keeping properties— I 

 mean Danver's Yellow. This when obtained true is an ex- 

 cellent sort, and partakes somewhat of the nature of the 

 White Spanish and the Brown Globe, lluite sufficient names 

 are now mentioned to include the most useful sorts, unless a 

 red Onion is required, and the best in this eection is the Bed 

 Wetherstield. 



As to the (luahty of Onions, I believe it to be mainly 

 governed by culture — I moan as to mildness or pungency. 

 Dark-skinned are generally more pungent than Ught-skinned 

 Onions, and small are more pungent than large bulbs. The 

 longer Onions are kept in a growing state, provided they are 

 growing freely, the larger are the bulbs and the milder their 

 fiavour. This is instanced by the Spanish Onions, which I 

 am informed are sown under glass in December and trans- 

 planted in April to insure a long season of growth. I know 

 that this is important if large-sized bulbs are specially desired ; 

 aud the finest that I have grown (for exhibition) were obtained 

 by sowing a few seeds on square turves, thinning the seedlings 

 out to the best plant in each siiuare, and planting the turves 

 at the end of April. Previously they had been placed on a 

 gentle hotbed under glass, and were attended to as to watering, 

 ventilating, and hardening the same as other tender plants. 

 These Onions attained to a large size, and were never attacked 

 by the grub. That, however, is a "fancy" mode of culture 

 only applicable to " fancy " purposes. 



Another mode of culture which I have oceafionally adopted 

 may, perhaps, also be called a fancy mode; it has, however, 

 proved really useful, and especiaUy where carried out in a gar- 

 den very prone to grub ravages. In this garden I found it 

 almost impossible to insure a crop of Onions by the ordinary 

 mode of sowiag the seed in drills and thinning the plants, and 

 the bulbs that escaped the grubs were usually small. I there- 

 fore sowed the seed on a slight hotbed of leaves in February, 

 protecting the plants first with glass and subsequently with 

 mats, and had stout plants for transplanting at the end of 

 April. I thought that as my winter Onions were seldom 

 affected with the grub I would adopt the same mode of trans- 

 planting strong plants from seed sown in spring. The plan 

 proved quite successful, and produced a full crop of fine bulbs 

 when previously miserable crops had been the rule. The plan 

 is neither tedious nor expensive, and the value of the crop 

 produced by it is well worth the trouble. 



But, of course, when the soil is naturally favourable for the 

 gi'owth of Onions, and where the maggot is not troublesome, it 

 is only necessary to sow the seed in drills a foot apart, and 

 thin-out the plants in the usual way, or perhaps not quite in 

 the usual way, for I fear it is much too common to allow the 

 plants to remain too long before they are thinned, than which 

 no practice is more prejudicial to the crop. If the young 

 plants are suffered to grow so large before being thinned that 

 the plants which remain fall down for the want of support the 

 crop is practically ruined, and uo special care can atone for 

 past neglect ; besides, the practice is really wasteful, for in 

 drawing-out tens of thousands of large healthy young Onions 

 we draw out probably half the nutriment that would suffice 

 to perfect the crop were it left to support a proper and reason- 

 able number of plants timely thinned. Onions should always 

 be thinned before the plants touch each other, and when the 

 plants that are left do not miss either the shelter or the prop- 

 ping-up of their neighbours. Thinning is a very simple matter, 

 and as such it is apt to be overlooked, but it is not the less 

 important ; indeed, so important is it that many crops are 

 ruined by the want of timely attention to this necessary work. 



Onions delight in a deep, rich, and firm soil, and those who 

 have a soil of this nature are seldom troubled with the maggot. 

 I mean by firm a naturally heavy soil. The importance of 

 having firm soil for this crop is generally admitted, and the 

 work of treading the soil previously to sowing the seed has 

 become a habit. Light soils cannot be too firmly trodden, but 



some soils are so heavy, close, and firm that the treading of 

 them is ridiculous, even for Onions. In very heavy soils a 

 little special care is often requisite in sowing the seed, for if a 

 quick free growth of the plants can be obtained in their early 

 stages their aftergrowth is easy. In ungenial soils it is true 

 economy to draw the drills 1 inches deep instead of 1 inch, and 

 sow 3 inches of lighter soil in the drills before sprinkUng in the 

 seed, and then cover it with similar hght soil. AVood ashes, 

 decayed leaves and vegetable matter, old tan , and general garden 

 refuse are invaluable for starting small seeds in heavy soils. 

 It is only those who have proved the value of that practice 

 who can fully appreciate its usefulness in producing a crop 

 Oaions, and it is equally applicable to other seeds. In light 

 soils that practice is not necessary, and it is on light soils in 

 dry districts that the real difficulty of Onion-growing is ex- 

 perienced. The plants grow freely enough for a month or so, 

 and then comes the grub ; and when once the crop is virulently 

 attacked, ho is an able man who conquers the maggot and 

 preserves the crop, and is far more deserving of a medal for 

 his efforts than he who obtains one for a row of fine-foliaged 

 plants at a fashionable exhibition. 



In cultivating the Onion in a garden where the maggot is 

 unusually destructive, I can only find safety in preventive 

 measures. First of all it is requisite to induce a quick un- 

 checked growth of the young plants, and the common obstacle 

 to this is the heat and drought of -June. I find for counter- 

 acting the heat and drought common salt to be of great value, 

 and do not hesitate to dig it into the ground at the rate of 

 three bushels to a rod in the autumn, and I find its coolmg 

 properties and moisture-attracting nature highly suitable to this 

 crop in a light soil. In the spring, a day or two previously to 

 sowing the seed, I dig the ground again, and afterwards make 

 it firm. As soon as the young Onions appear the hoe is set to 

 work amongst them, and they are weekly sprinkled with soot, 

 and occasionally, and sUghtly, with nitrate of soda and guano. 

 This stimulates the plants, and perhaps causes a smell dis- 

 tasteful to the Onion fly ; at any rate, the practice generally 

 secures a crop. Before adopting it I could not succeed, and 

 when the young Onions have been stricken by the maggot I 

 have not been able to destroy it without also very nearly 

 destroying the plants. 



I do not find early sowing advantageous, unless by an un- 

 usually favourable season the plants receive no checks by late 

 frosts. I have sown Onions every week from the 1st of March 

 to the Ist of April, and find, taking the seasons at an average, 

 that the last-named date is the safest for my dry light soil and 

 grub-infested garden ; but no plan is equal for evading the 

 maggot to the one above alluded to of raising plants under pro- 

 tection, and having them strong for transplanting in the first 

 favourable weather of spring. I find that it is useful to sow 

 a few rows of the Silver- skinned or Queen Onions for the pro- 

 duction of a few early bulbs, relying on White Spanish and 

 .James's Keeping for the general supply. 



A word may be added on the storing of Onions. The bulbs 

 are often left in the ground too long. They should be pulled- 

 up immediately after their summer roots have withered, for the 

 first shower falling after this time will cause the bulbs to emit 

 fresh roots at once, and when this is the case the keeping 

 properties of the Onions are greatly impaired. When taken 

 up at the proper time and dried ijuickly they cannot be kept in 

 too cold a place. Provided the bulbs are dry they will defy 

 injury from any frosts which occur in Britain. My proof for 

 this assertion is that I have known them to endure frost when 

 the thermometer was 7' below zero, and no damage was done 

 to the bulbs. 



The great value and importance of this crop, aud I think I 

 may say its neglect by writers, who generally " fly at higher 

 game," have induced me to jot down these my experiences. — 

 E. Flsh's PcriL, 



GLADIOLUS DISEASE. 

 Amongst the theories that have been advanced on this 

 subject is that it is the result of exhaustion of the bulbs in 

 our unsuitable English climate. It is a theory I have always 

 combated as unsound, and I think the example I now send 

 fully bears me out in my opposition to it. The corm which 

 accompanies this has been forwarded to me by my friend Mr. 

 Banks of Sholden Lodge near Deal, our largest aud best 

 amateur grower. It is one which he received from France 

 this autumn of Miriam, a new variety that has been planted 

 in English soil, but which is as badly diseased as any English- 



