ONIONS. 377 



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in, or whore this is not conveniently done, they work it over during the winter occasionally, 

 to make it very fine, and plow it under in the spring about three inches, after which the 

 ground is rolled with a heavy roller. Others prefer to apply the manure very fine, only two 

 or three days before sowing the seed. Commercial fertilizers, wood ashes, and plaster should 

 always be applied about that time, or within a short time of sowing. If the manure is 

 spread in the fall, the land should be plowed to the depth of three inches and harrowed 

 thoroughly in the spring just before sowing, a disc harrow being best for this purpose, 

 after which the ground should be rolled. Rolling crushes the clods and lumps and thus 

 aids in pulverizing the soil. When land is plowed in the fall, this process should be repeated 

 in the spring. 



All stones should be removed, and the finer the soil can be made, the better. After the 

 soil is made as fine as possible with the harrow and roller, the surface should be carefully 

 raked with a fine-toothed hand-rake to further remove all the small lumps of earth and 

 stones that may yet remain. It requires considerable labor and pains-taking to prepare a 

 field for onion culture, but it is of the utmost importance that it be done well, as the yield of 

 the crop will depend in a great measure upon the manner in which it is prepared; besides, if 

 thoroughly done the first season, much labor will be saved in the growing of subsequent 

 crops of the same kind which may follow in succession for several years with advantage, if 

 the land continues to be heavily manured each year. 



It is very important that the seed sown should be of the very best quality and that 

 grown the preceding year. It cannot be of the best quality unless the best and largest bulbs 

 are selected for producing it, and it is fully matured before being gathered, besides being well 

 dried and cleaned. 



Some farmers are indifferent in this respect, and often raise seed from inferior, ill- 

 formed bulbs, but such seed will not only produce a crop of inferior quality, but will make 

 a difference in many bushels of the product, in quantity per acre. It is also equally essen 

 tial that the seed be fresh and of the preceding year s growth, as old seed will not germi 

 nate well, and is very unreliable. It is stated by good authority that of seed two years old 

 less than half will ordinarily germinate, while that three years old will scarcely germinate 

 at all; consequently it is always safer and the best economy to secure fresh seed for planting, 

 and never to risk the old, as planting qyer is an injury to the crop, besides involving a 

 great deal of extra labor, all of which may be obviated by the use of fresh seed of the best 

 quality. 



The sowing for large crops should always be done by a machine, as hand-sowing is not 

 only slow and very laborious, but results in the loss of considerable of the seed, and cannot 

 be done as uniformly as by a small machine that will drill it in uniformly and cover it evenly. 

 There are several garden seed -sowers for this purpose in the market that can be procured at 

 slight expense, and will do the work much better and easier than can be done by hand. A 

 seed-sower, hand-cultivator, and weeder combined will be the best implement of the kind for 

 the purpose, as it includes three machines in one. 



The main crop should be sown as early in the spring as the ground is in working condi 

 tion, since it is best to secure as large a growth as possible, before the usual drouths of 

 August. The seed should be deposited in drills from twelve to sixteen inches apart, the 

 latter width being the most desirable for large or medium-sized bulbs. It should be sown 

 evenly and rather sparingly, and covered a half inch in depth. About four seeds an inch 

 is considered the desirable distance in sowing. Most of the seed-drills cover the seed and 

 press the soil down upon it, but where this is not done by the machine, it is well to go over 

 the ground with a light roller after the seed is covered, which has a tendency to quicken the 

 germination of the seed. Four pounds of seed are sufficient for an acre, where the drills 

 are about sixteen inches apart. Should the drills be nearer, a little more may be required. 



