86 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



inches of soil. This is not enough to cover the root how- 

 ever, which is left partly exposed, but this is in no way- 

 injurious. Some prefer to cover them up at once by plow- 

 ing a furrow, shoveling it out wide enough to receive the 

 heads of the Cabbages, then turning the soil in on the 

 heads, and so continuing until beds of six or eight feet are 

 thus formed. This plan is rather more expeditious than 

 the former, but it has the disadvantage of compelling 

 them to be covered up at once by soil, while the other plan 

 delays it two or three weeks later, and it is of the utmost 

 importance in preserving vegetables that the operation 

 (particularly the final covering) be delayed as late in the 

 season as frost will permit. Generally more are lost by be- 

 ginning too soon than delaying too late. Onions, we find, 

 are best preserved in a barn or stable loft, in layers of 

 from 8 to 10 inches deep, covered up with about a foot of 

 hay or straw on the approach of severe frosts. The great 

 points to be attained are a low temperature and a dry at- 

 mosphere ; they will bear 20 degrees of frost without in- 

 jury, provided they are not moved while frozen, but they 

 will not stand a reduction of temperature much lower than 

 this without injury. 



