376 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



The tops and bulbs are sometimes both eaten. It never attains a very large size, but when 

 the little, irregular bulbs are set out early in the spring, will be ready for market several 

 weeks before seed-sown onions are matured. In quality they are superior to the Potato 

 Onion, and also keep well. 



The Rareripe is another form of this product differing from the sets, from the fact of their 

 being mature onions which have been kept through the winter, and which, if set out in 

 the spring and prevented from going to seed, will increase in size and be ready for market 

 early. It is customary with farmers to sometimes select the small mature onions of the crop 

 and set them out early in the spring for a larger growth, which is secured by keeping the 

 stalks cut down to where they begin to enlarge. They will be ready for market early, but 

 will not be of very fine quality. 



Sets, are immature onions set out for larger growth and maturity. 



Cultivation from Seed. A deep, rich, loamy soil is best adapted to the culture 

 of onions; it should, however, be neither too heavy nor too light, and of medium moisture, 

 the extremes of either wet or dry being equally objectionable. Land with a slight declivity, 

 well drained, should be selected, and it should be neither stony or poor in any respect. A 

 sandy or gravelly loam well manured will yield fine crops; some other soils will also yield 

 fairly well. Where very large bulbs are desired, a deep, rich loam, rather strong, is neces 

 sary; the growth in such a soil will also be more rapid, and there will be less liability to 

 the attacks of the onion-fly or maggot than on a light, dry, sandy soil. Unlike most crops, 

 onions can be cultivated for several years in succession on the same field, and seem to do 

 better by this method of culture, while it is much less labor than to follow a rotation *and 

 change every year or tw, they being one of the rare exceptions to the theory of rotation of 

 crops. Weeds are detrimental to this crop, consequently their successful production necessi 

 tates a clean soil. For this reason, carrots or celery are very good preparatory crops to 

 grow on land previous to its being occupied by onions. Near large cities, it is quite a com 

 mon practice to have every sixth row in the onion field occupied with celery. After remov 

 ing the onions, the celery is banked up with the soil for blanching, thus giving a second 

 crop from the same land, which is generally about as profitable as the first. Land designed 

 for onions should be plowed late in the fall, just before winter sets in; this will insure 

 the destruction of the wire-worms, and a more thorough pulverization of soil by the aid of 

 the frosts. The plowing should not be very deep, four or five inches being sufficient, and 

 if the land is a slight declivity, the plowing should be across in such a manner as to 

 prevent the rains washing the soil by running down the furrows. Stable manure, hog 

 manure, and night soil are beneficial to this crop, also wood ashes, the sulphate of potash, 

 land plaster, and many of the other commercial fertilizers. Stable manure should always 

 be well rotted or fermented for onions, and very finely pulverized. A heavy dressing of 

 manure is essential to a good crop, from twelve to fifteen cords per acre being none too 

 much; in addition to this, from forty to fifty bushels of unleached wood ashes, and about 

 four hundred pounds of plaster are desirable. Where the manure is not to be had for this 

 purpose, about six hundred pounds of superphosphates will answer as a substitute, to which 

 the ashes and plaster should be added. 



As a general practice, those interested in the cultivation of onions do not enrich the 

 soil sufficiently to make it a profitable crop, or rather, by enriching it more, the profits would 

 be much larger. We believe this is why so many in their first attempts in growing onions 

 fail, as with proper fertility and care they are one of the surest of crops. We have known of 

 several who have cultivated onions from eight to fifteen years in succession, and have never 

 experienced a single failure during all that period, which is more than can be said of many 

 crops. 



Some farmers spread the manure in the fall immediately after plowing, and harrow it 



