MONTHLY CALENDAR. 383 



as midsummer. This crop requires a good rich soil, or one that is made so by 

 proper manuring. If sown broadcast, mark the ground into 4- or 5-feetbeds ; 

 sow the seed evenly, tread, and rake. It may be sown thickly if it is desired to 

 draw young for the table, or they may be thinned out by this process, leaving 

 those that are to bulb six inches or even a foot apart : the same applies to sowing 

 in drills, which should be a foot apart. The hoe should be freely used among 

 them while growing. A sov\'ing may be made in October, to stand the winter, 

 for early spring salading. The silver-skinned is usually sown for pickling ; the 

 tree and potato onion are both very useful varieties : both are propagated by 

 offsets, which are planted early in April ; the difference being, that the tree- 

 onion produces above ground, on a branching plant ; the potato-onion, as its 

 name implies, beneath the surface. Garlic and shallots are planted about the 

 same time and in the same manner, allowing for the two latter a distance of 8 or 

 10 inches, the two former 15 or 18 inches apart. To procure onion-seed, plant 

 eome good, sound, full-grown onions in an open situation in March, placing 

 them 6 inches deep and 15 apart. As they grow, protect the stems, which are 

 very brittle, by means of a stake driven into the ground at each end of the 

 rows, and strings passed each side of the stems, and fastened firmly to the 

 stakes. This should be done in time to prevent any getting broken, which 

 would reduce the crop. Onions are usually considered a gross-feeding crop, 

 but they grow well on any moderately rich or well-manured soil, and if, in dry 

 weather, they can be well watered, and occasionally with liquid manure, they 

 will grow very fine, and are a very profitable croi). 



938. Leeks, for the main crop, are usually sown this month, about the sanro 

 time as onions. Some gardeners sow them with a small sowing of onions, the 

 latter being drawn young for salading, the leeks being left on the bed, or 

 planted out. Some sow them in drills 18 inches or even two feet apart, and 

 thin them to a foot or so apart in the row, planting the thinnings at the 

 same distance. This gives room to draw earth up to them for the purpose of 

 blanching the I'oot and stem. Sow very shallow, tread, and rake, provided 

 the ground admits of it ; thin before the plants interfere with each other, and 

 water in dry weather. This crop delights in a light rich soil, and in moist 

 seasons grows very large. The London flag is the sort most usually grown ; 

 but the Scotch or Musselburg is esteemed by many, as growing larger and 

 better. 



939. Fud Beet should be sown at the beginning of the month. Let the ground 

 be fully exposed to the sun, and quite open and away from trees. Sow the seed 

 in shallow drills 15 inches apart, and drop three or four seeds at intervals of 

 10 inches or a foot apart, or sow thinly along the drill : cover, tread, thin, 

 and rake the ground roughly with a wooden rake, drawing off large stones, &c., 

 that may be on the surface. Sowing this seed in drills is preferable to 

 sowing broadcast, because it not only gives greater facility for thinning out 

 and using the hoe between, but it insures a regular crop without wasting the 

 seed, the plants being at regular distances. When they are about a foot high, 

 thin them to not Ices than a foot apart, leaving the best-coloured rather than 



