180 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



commercial fertilizers should be lightly worked into the 

 soil. For ordinary garden culture a good mixed ferti- 

 lizer, liberally supplied early in the season, and followed 

 by occasional dressings of nitrate of soda or waterings 

 of liquid manure, will be enough. 



At the same time it should be mentioned that ex- 

 periments show that applied in large quantities ferti- 

 lizer may be wasted. " The onion-grower runs great 

 risk of diminished profits when he uses 1,500 and 2,000 

 pounds of [high-grade] commercial manure per acre." 

 (Farmers 1 Bulletin No. 149.) 



Harvesting. Onions usually show their ripeness 

 by the dying of the tops. When most of the plot have 

 begun to turn yellow, if the others are still green, 

 break them down by rolling a barrel along the row or 

 by twisting them by hand. This should be done if 

 the whole crop remain's green well into September. 

 When the tops are dead, pull the crop, laying the 

 Onions so that the sun shall reach their roots, in wind- 

 rows or in heaps. On account of the danger of rain, 

 they are best cured under cover. When dried, the tops 

 are cut off an inch or less from the bulb, and they are 

 then stored. Sometimes the tops are cut off before the 

 crop is pulled, and occasionally the tops are allowed to 

 remain and the Onions are tied together by them. 



Storage is usually in boxes or barrels out of the 

 reach of frost. Commercial storage is not treated here. 

 Onions may be frozen if they are not again thawed till 



