VEGETABLES — ONION. 181 



formed. The quantity of seed per acre, is about 4 lbs., 

 when sown by the machine, that is if the seed is new and 

 fresh ; and none else should ever be used, as Onion seed, 

 of more than one year old, is not apt to produce a vigorous 

 crop. The seed is quickly tested by placing a little of it 

 in damp cotton or moss, in a moderately warm room ; if 

 fresh, it will sprout in three or four days. The early at- 

 tention to weeding or hoeing is, if possible, of more import- 

 ance when the crop is raised from seed, than when from 

 sets; for the growth being slower and feebler from seeds, 

 if weeds once get ahead, the crop may be ruined. Here, 

 as well as in all other garden operations, one man will hoe 

 over more ground, before the weeds start to grow, than 

 ten men will, after the weeds get to be six inches high. 

 Here then, a " stitch in time," literally, " saves nine." 



The crop is always harvested in August, the bulbs be- 

 ing lifted by slightly digging under the row with a light 

 digging fork. The Onions are left on the ground, usually 

 from two to three weeks, according to the condition of 

 the weather, to get thoroughly dried, and are then placed 

 in barrels, or about 6 or 8 inches deep upon shelving made 

 for the purpose, in a barn or cellar; any place that is 

 dry, without being too warm, being most suitable. 

 Onions will only endure a certain amount of frost without 

 injury, so that it is always safer to cover them up from in- 

 tense freezing as cold weather approaches. The price of 

 Onions is variable in the extreme ; those first sent to mar- 

 ket often selling for 85 and 86 per barrel, while in a week 

 later the same quality is hardly salable at 81.50 per bar- 

 rel. Again, in spring, when successfully wintered over, 

 some careful grower often realizes the first named price. 



