K- 



May, 1910 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



119 



Planting and Managing Onions 



A. C. Dart, Grimsby, Ontario 



ONIONS succeed best in an open sit- 

 uation in rich loam, but good crops 

 may also be obtained from soils of 

 very different texture and quality with 

 the aid of suitable manures. Plenty of 

 farm yard manure should be worked into 

 the ground as deep as possible in the aut- 

 umn and left roughly during the winter. 



In the spring as soon as the soil is 

 dry, so that its lumps will crumble rather 

 than stick together, it should be well 

 worked. It cannot be worked too much 

 for onions. 



Salt, soot and lime worked into the 

 soil before sowing are useful as manure 

 and also for preventing the attacks of the 

 onion maggot and other insects. A good 

 fertilizer for onions, applied at the fol- 

 lowing rate per acre, is : Sulphate of 

 potash, 200 pounds ; basic slag, 500 

 pounds; nitrate of soda, 300 pounds. 

 Work the basic slag into the ground in 

 the fall, the sulphate of potash before 



Thinning should take place early. A 

 small two-inch hoe is useful for this pur- 

 pose. 



In order to have extra fine onions, sow 

 the seed in boxes in February or early in 

 March and place in a greenhouse or hot- 

 bed. Prick off as soon as ready in flats, 

 or when large quantities are wanted, 

 prick off in hotbeds. Keep them near the 

 glass and sprinkle them overhead on all 

 fine days. When hardening off, plant 

 out in well prepared ground. Select a 

 dull day for planting. 



Selecting good reliable seed is of great 

 importance in onion culture. Good Eng- 

 lish varieties are Leamington Giant, 

 Cranston, Excelsior and Somerset Hero; 

 the best Canadian varieties are Giant 

 Prizetaker, Selected Yellow Danvers, 

 Large Red Wethersfield and Southport 

 Yellow Globe. 



For preventing the onion maggot, use 

 salt, soot and lime forked into the soil 



Sowing Oaioa Seed— A Well-Prepared Seed Bed is Necessary for Uniformity in Catch 



I 



sowing in the spring and the nitrate of 

 soda during the growing season prefer- 

 ably in two applications, at an interval 

 of ten days to two weeks. 



The ground should be made as level as 

 possible before sowing. The precise 

 time cannot be stated, as it greatly de- 

 pends upon the state of the weather and 

 the nature of the soil, but the first op- 

 portunity should be seized when the soil 

 is workable for sowing. 



Sow in drills twelve inches apart. The 

 seed cannot be too near the surface, as 

 long as it is covered. If the .soil is light, 

 it should be rolled with a roller of great- 

 er or less weight according to the na- 

 ture of the soil. 



• As soon as the .seedlings are up, hoe- 

 ing will be necessary to keep down weeds, 

 and to keep the surface soil stirred. Al- 

 though the growth of the young plants 

 may be promoted by shallow stirring, the 

 deep loosening of the soil So beneficial 

 for many crops is not desirable for 

 onions. 



before sowing. Charcoal is sometimes 

 used for preventing canker. Sulphur 

 spraying during the growing season will 

 keep mildew in check. Good cultivation 

 is the best preventive for all diseases. 



Potato Culture 



John N. Watts. Portsmoutb, Ont. 



To get the largest crop of any varietv 

 of potatoes one must first get the land 

 in proper condition. Do not plow when 

 the gro ind is so wet that the furrow 

 shines. Roll and harrow until the ground 

 is well pulverized. Work in plenty of 

 manure, but never put it in the furrow 

 in which the potatoes are to be planted. 



When the ground is ready, draw the 

 furrow, and cut the potatoes so as to have 

 at least one good eye to the cut. The 

 seed end should be cut off first. A good 

 eye is one that has not sprouted. .Suck- 

 ers may form around the eye, but will 

 he weak. 



To get the strongest stalk, care must 



be taken to cut the potato so as to get as 

 much of the fibre running from the eye 

 to the centre as possible. Through this 

 fibre the eye will get its sustenance until 

 sufficient growth has been made to take 

 care of itself. 



In planting, the potatoes should not 

 be exposed to the sun for any length of 

 time, or blanks will be numerous. After 

 Che ground has been put in good order, 

 shallow cultivation is best. The ground 

 cannot be kept too clean, neither can it 

 be worked too often, even until the vines 

 are nearly covering the rows. 



Starting Seedlings 



Prof. W. S. Blair, Macdonald Collefe, Qne. 



The tendency is to crowd plants in 

 the seed flat by thick seeding, and this 

 too often is followed by giving the 

 pricked off plants about half the space 

 they should have. Plants in the thick- 

 ly-seeded flat become spindly at the 

 start and make at best rangy and unde- 

 sirable stock. Plants from thin seed- 

 ing are (providing proper temperature 

 and light is given) stocky, short- 

 stemmed and can remain in the flat a 

 longer period without injury before 

 transplanting. Overcrowded seedlings 

 are much more difficult to handle, and 

 are not nearly so satisfactory. 



It is wise to maintain a temperature 

 of forty-five to fifty-five degrees for 

 cool-season vegetables such as cabbage, 

 lettuce, etc., and fifty-five to sixty-five 

 degrees for warm-season vegetables 

 such as tomatoes. During a bright day 

 with the full benefit of the sunlight the 

 temperature may go much higher than 

 tljjs and not cause drawing of the plant, 

 bijt on dark days and at night the tem- 

 perature should be kept down, other- 

 wise spindly and weak plants will be ob- 

 tained. I prefer a forty-five-degree 

 night temperature for cabbage and a fif- 

 ty-five-degree for tomatoes, rather than 

 higher. It takes longer to develop 

 plants at a low temperature, but the 

 quality of the plants and their root de- 

 velopment more than offset this objec- 

 tion. 



Cabbage and cauliflower should be 

 spaced two inches apart for early stock, 

 and closer planting may be followed for 

 later stock that it may not be necessary 

 to carry so long in the flat. Place cel- 

 ery one and one-half inches apart. 



Tomatoes should first be pricked off 

 into flats two inches apart and two 

 weeks later put into flats four inches 

 apart or single plants into the three-and- 

 one-half-inch pots. I believe three-and- 

 one-half-inch earthenware flower pots 

 which cost about seventy-five cents per 

 100 are the most economical for hand- 

 ling tomatoes for the early crop. These 

 pots can be used year after year. It re- 

 quires about seven to eight weeks to 

 develop a good tomato or cabbage plant 



