98 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



in Quincy Market forty per cent, higher 

 than any other berry offered in the 

 week. 



We are indebted to Messrs. Parker 

 & Wood, dealers in plants, seeds, agri- 

 cultural implements and machines, 49 

 North Market Street, Boston, Mass., 

 U.S.A., for the electrotype of this re- 

 markable new strawberry, which was 

 engraved from a photograph. We were 

 not able to procure a colored plate for 

 our illustration, but in all other respects 

 this engraving will enable our readers 

 to form a correct idea of the appearance 

 of this new strawberry. 



QUESTION DRAWER. 



HOW TO GROW ONIONS. 



Can you inform me in your next 

 number the best method for raising 

 good black seed Onions. I am so much 

 pleased with your magazine I would 

 not like to be without it. 



Lakeside. Oxford Co. Sam. A. Cole. 



Reply. — To grow good Onions it is 

 important that we select suitable soil 

 and have it properly prepared. The 

 best soil for Onions is a deep, rich, 

 loamy, mellow soil, on a dry bottom, 

 that is well underdrained either natur- 

 ally or artificially. The Onion will 

 not thrive in a wet, cold ground. A 

 sandy loam that is strong enough to 

 raise good crops of corn or potatoes^ 

 will make an excellent ground for 

 Onions. In making your selection of 

 a place for growing them, give pre> 

 ference to one that has been previously 

 well fertilized and tilled with hoed 

 crops and kept clean — such as has 

 raised a fine crop of beets or carrots. 



Prepare the ground by ploughing, 

 harrowing it thoroughly, breaking up 

 all lumps, and making it as fine and 

 light as possible. Manure it with fine, 

 thoroughly rotted barn-yard manure, 

 at the rate of twenty-five tons to the 

 acre, adding all the cleanings of the 

 pig-stye, poultry-house and earth-closet 

 that can be spared, and work these 

 into the surface with the harrow. If 

 you can procure them, sow the ground 

 with fine ground bones, at the rate of 

 a couple of tons to the acre, for Onions 

 being an exception to the general rule 

 of rotation in crops, you will find the 

 bones of great benefit for more than 

 one year. If you wish to grow enor- 

 mous specimens that will take the 

 prizes at our Agricultural Shows, you 

 will find nothing better than to dress 

 that part of your Onion field with a 

 barrel or two of well-rotted onions, 

 in addition to your other fertilizers. 



The surface of the ground should 

 be finished off as nearly level as pos- 

 sible, and cleaned entirely of stones, 

 sticks, or rubbish. If you wish to 

 grow on a large scale sow the seed 

 with a machine made for the purpose, 

 which sows two rows at once, making 

 the drills, sowing the seed and covering 

 at one operation. If you only require 

 enough for home use, you can make j 

 the drills by hand about a foot or 

 fifteen inches apart, sowing the seed 

 thinly, say about an inch apart in the 

 drill. The drills should be very shal- 

 low, mere scratches into which to drop 

 the seed, and the covering is best done 

 with a light roller run over the ground 

 lengthwise of the drills. 



