ONIOy CUL TIVA TION. 



should all be removed before the final 

 plowing. The grower should bear in 

 mind that thorough preparation of the 

 soil will materially increase the proba- 

 bility of securing a good stand of plants, 

 on the one hand, while it greatly de- 

 creases the amount of hand work neces- 

 sary in hoeing and weeding, on the 

 other. This is particularly true on new 

 ground and on all soils of a clayey or 

 tena'cious character. 



The preparatory plowing should be 



as carefully done as for a garden crop, 

 and in most soils it should be as deep 

 as possible without turning up much of 

 the subsoil. Surface soils less than 8 

 inches deep should be plowed to their 

 full depth. Where a compact or reten- 

 tive subsoil is found, its stirring with 

 a subsoiler will benefit the crop in most 

 regions by affording prompter drainage 

 and promoting deeper root growth. 



{To be continued) 



ONION CULTIVATION. 



*-ir*HE next vegetable in importance to 

 the potato for practical utility is 

 H certainly the onion. In most 

 European and Asiatic countries in its 

 different forms, such as leeks, shives, 

 garlic, etc., it is probably more used 

 than the potato itself ; this latter vege- 

 table to some extent being superseded 

 by bread, rice or macarony. 



It is believed the onion in Ontario 

 does not receive the attention it deserves. 

 Our climate and soil both appear to be 

 well adapted to its cultivation, whilst 

 the prices obtained are fairly remunera- 

 tive. Why then is its growth and use 

 so much neglected ? Perhaps it is from 

 the simple reason that sufficient informa- 

 tion as to its culture is not obtainable, 

 and yet there is little difficulty with 

 proper care in producing first class bulbs. 

 The three best varieties to cultivate are 

 the Red Wethersfield, Yellow Danvers, 

 and the new foreign or Spanish onion. 

 This latter is globe shaped, and not 

 infrequently, when well grown on a suit- 

 able soil, individual specimens will tip 

 the scale at sixteen ounces. The best 

 soil for onions is well drained bottom 

 and, that is black earth from which a 

 Idense cedar bush has been removed. 

 In this alluvial deposit, made originally 



from the washing in past centuries of 

 leaf mould from the surrounding high 

 ground, as well as from the decaying 

 vegetation produced by a thick growth 

 upon the land itself. It must not be 

 supposed because this land is black that 

 it is also rich, as this is by no means 

 always the case, but it holds manure 

 well, and is just lovely to work. A good 

 coating of two or three inches of well 

 rotted manure plowed under lightly in 

 the autumn, and in the spring a drill 

 run with the plow where the onion rows 

 are to be placed, and a second dose of 

 fine compost, such as road sweepings 

 from a block pavement or a similar 

 application to that given previously in 

 the fall, will, when covered by the rake 

 with fine earth, make a suitable seed 

 bed for the crop. This black soil is by 

 no means insisted upon as a nice sandy 

 loam would be found equally efficient, 

 but the muck soil is generally quite 

 level, so that it is free from being washed 

 by heavy rains, and if it is thoroughly 

 cleaned from stumps and roots, it has 

 no gravel or boulders to obstruct the 

 plow, seeder or hoe. The earth also is 

 so fine that the seed sprouts easily and 

 regularly along the row. If the cultiva- 

 tor has not the convenience of a seeder 



6=; 



