CHAP. XIV VILLA GAEDENINCt 455 



take auy given number of seeds a certain proportion of them, under 

 equal conditions, will grow larger bulbs than the remainder ; and 

 if we can keep those which are inherently great, we shall obtain 

 the best possible crop that circumstances permit of. The distances 

 between the bulbs need not be uniform. The practised eye will 

 form an opinion promptly as to the capabilities of each plant from 

 the leaves, and it would be wasteful to leave a plant 6 inches of 

 space which could profitably occupy only 3 inches. The thinning 

 is best done in showery weather, as any loosening of the plants 

 will then be less hurtful to them. 



The Summer Management will consist chiefly in keeping 

 down weeds, and to do this well they should be attended to when 

 they are small. Hoeing will do the greater part of the work in 

 the early life of the plants ; but later on, when the tops are 

 meeting, weeding will be better than too much hoeing, as the hoe, 

 if used roughly, may injiu-e the plants. Nitrate of soda, 5 or 6 

 pounds tq the rod, is a good top-dressiug for the Onion during its 

 season of growth ; it may be given in showery weather any time, 

 and will assist the plants in escaping from the maggot, should it 

 attack them. 



Harvesting. — When the usual indication of a cessation of 

 growth (a droojDing stem) appears, all stems which are not falling 

 over naturally should be bent down to facilitate the ripening of the 

 bulbs. When growth has finished the bulbs should be pulled up 

 and laid out in tlie sun to complete the ripening ; then, in due 

 course, they should be stored. All having stems long enough to 

 tie into bunches should be so treated, and hung up in a cool airy 

 shed ; if kept dry, cold will not injure them — indeed, the late kinds, 

 if well ripened, can hardly be kept too cool. Those not long 

 enough to tie up may be laid thinly on shelves in a cool place, or 

 some of them, if there are many, may be pitted like Potatoes. If 

 they have a good cover of straw, they will keep well in this way 

 a long time. 



Disease and Insects. — The chief ailments of the Onion plant 

 are mildew and maggots. Sometimes, after a severe drought, the 

 first attacks the tops and stops growth ; at other times it attacks 

 the roots and works upwards. In either case the best remedy is the 

 dressing of salt, soot, and lime, prepared as I have suggested, in 

 winter, and again in spring after the Onions are up. This dressing 

 is also beneficial in the case of the maggot attacking. Its action 

 is chiefly preventive, as nothing can save a plant when the maggot 

 once works its way into the bulb. The larvie of the Onion-fly lie 

 in the ground all the winter, and the dressing recommended will 

 tend to destroy them. Gas lime in small quantities may be useful 



