378 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



An ounce of seed will sow a bed four and a half feet by thirty feet. It is important that the 

 seed be sown early, as the bulbs will all be more liable to mature well and there will be no 

 &quot;scullions,&quot; as they are called, which are merely unripe onions. 



It is customary to weed this crop three or four times during the season. As soon as 

 the plants make their appearance, a wheel-hoe or cultivator should be used between the rows 

 to check the weeds which will always start vigorously in any soil newly worked over, and 

 which will ruin the crop, if not kept down. If this cultivation is delayed until the weeds get 

 well started, it will require a great amount of labor to exterminate them, and which more 

 prompt attention might obviate. If this cultivation be done once a week or oftener for the 

 first few weeks, the weeding in the drills by hand will not be very laborious; besides, as 

 onions do not shade the ground much, and the soil must of necessity be very rich, weeds in 

 an onion field will grow very fast and be sure to ruin the crop unless prompt and vigorous 

 attention be given to keep them constantly in check. They must be exterminated as soon as 

 they make their appearance in the rows. This is commonly done by hand, and is hard work, 

 as it involves the getting down of the operator upon his hands and knees. If a good weeder 

 or cultivator is used between the rows, and so operated as to work close to the drills, there 

 will be but few weeds between the plants to be pulled out. There are various little weeding 

 hoes invented for this purpose, to take the place of hand-weeding, but many farmers prefer 

 the latter as being more effectual in results. 



An experienced farmer, who has cultivated onions for over ten years successfully, says 

 that a useful tool to weed with, where the ground is hard, can be made from an old hoe, by 

 cutting off the sides of the blade until there is a strip left an inch and a half in width ; after 

 wards grind the sides and edge of this miniature hoe, sharp, and put in a handle ten inches 

 long. This may be used very successfully where the soil is rather hard, but where it is soft, 

 fingers can do more rapid and efficient work. If the fingers get tender and sore, rubber 

 finger-stalls, or fingers cut from an old kid glove, are a great protection. 



After the first weeding, many consider it beneficial to give the crop a light dressing of 

 wood-ashes. Two or three other hand-weedings with frequent use of cultivator or weeder 

 between the rows, will be required before the crop will be ready for harvesting. All sickly and 

 diseased-looking plants should be pulled up and thrown off the field from time to time. It is 

 a crop that cannot be neglected and fair results follow ; the work must all be thoroughly and 

 promptly performed, if a good crop is to be obtained. When the bulbs begin to ripen, tho 

 tops will fall over to the ground ; for a short time after this period the bulbs will grow very 

 fast, therefore they should not be harvested too early. 



&quot;When the tops are nearly all fallen over to the ground, and are dry where they join the 

 bulb, they are ready for pulling. Sometimes it happens that the crop ripens unevenly. When 

 this is the case, the usual practice is to roll something light, such as an empty flour barrel, 

 over the rows in order to bend down the tops of the green upright stalks, which will hasten 

 the ripening process. If onions remain in the ground too long after being ready to be pulled, 

 they will commence a second growth by sprouting again, which will ruin the crop. Should 

 the maggot make its appearance, as it often does, to the great injury of the crop, a little plas 

 ter, guano, or unleached wood ashes scattered along the rows of plants will be an aid in its 

 extermination. 



Cultivation of Sets. It is quite common in the Southern States to grow onions 

 from sets, also in the Northern, when a very early crop is desired ; but the main product is 

 produced in the latter section by seed-sowing. Southern-grown sets are to be preferred to 

 those of a northern latitude. 



To produce sets, the land should be made moderately fertile, be very finely pulverized, 

 and made smooth and even, the same as for the reception of seed for the seed-crop. The 

 seed should be drilled in rows nine or ten inches apart, the drills to be broad, to secure a large 



