EXPERIENCE OF PRACTICAL GROWERS. 



31 



rows is sown, and so on. The land will thus be laid 

 off in narrow beds of six crowded rows, each sepa- 

 rated from the next by an alley, which can be kept 

 clean by the use of the cultivator. The beds them- 

 selves must be kept free from weeds by the use of a 

 narrow weeding hoe, supplemented hy luml-weeding. 

 Another plan is to mark the land in drills^ nine 

 inches apart, by the use of a marker. Each seventh 

 r<>\\ is not sown, which leaves an eighteeu-inch path 

 !M t ween every two beds of six rows each. The seed 

 is sown very thickly in the drills, using about thirty 

 pounds to the acre. Unless the crop is kept clean 

 while growing, it will be a total loss. As with large 

 unions, the sets show that they are ripe by the wiiher- 

 iiiir of the tops. They are usually dug by running a 

 tn>wd under them and throwing them upon a sieve, 

 of the proper size to free them from the soil and re- 

 tain the bulbs. 



It is very difficult to keep sets in good condition 

 during the winter. Before they are housed at all, 

 they should be exposed to the sun and air for a few 

 days, covering them at night. They must then be 

 stored in an airy loft, in layers not over three or four 

 inches thick. When freezing weather is at hand, the 

 sets are brought together in heaps, and covered with 

 straw or with mats. Owing to the difficulty in keep- 

 ing the sets, it is better to plant them in the fall. 



Land for raising onions from sets is enriched and 

 prepared in the same manner as for sowing the seed. 

 The rows are marked at the desired distances apart, 

 usually ten inches, and the sets are planted two or 

 three inches apart in the row. The sets arc pressed 

 into the fine, mellow soil by the use of the thumb and 

 finger, always taking care to place them with the root 

 end down. The work is finished by going over the 

 rows with a wooden rake. 



RAISING ONION SEED. 



While onion seed, if properly kept, will often ger- 

 minate nearly as well when two years old, it is not safe 

 to depend upon seed that is over a year old. In either 

 case, the seed should be tested, as all of that which is 

 only a year old will not germinate, and sometimes a 

 very large share will be abortive. Fifty or a hundred 

 seeds should be counted out, and either planted in a 

 pot or box of soil, or placed in a folded cloth or paper, 

 between two plates, where they can be kept moist 

 and warm. The percentage of good seed in a given 

 lot being ascertained, the drill should be set to sow a 

 sufficient number of seeds to make sure of a good 

 stand. 



The freshness and vitality of the seed are of great 

 importance, but it is equally important that the seed 

 should come from a good stock. Seed raised from 

 onions planted out promiscuously, or even from the 

 ' l culls " left after selecting all the best bulbs for mar- 

 ket, may look well and germinate freely, but the crop 

 will be far from satisfactory, and will be likely to have 

 an undue share of " scallions." For this no test can 

 be applied, and we can only rely upon the reputation 

 of the grower cf the seeds. 



While there are some growers of onion seed who 

 have a reputation for the quality of their product, and 

 endeavor to maintain it, there is much seed in the 

 market which one runs a great risk in buyinir. Un- 

 less the onion-grower can be sure of getting seeds 

 true to their kind, and of a strain likely to produce 

 few scallions, he had far better raise his own seed. 



Very few are aware how readily the onion may be 

 modified by a few years of careful selection. It is 

 well known that the more nearly globular an onion is 

 in shape, other thini:* being equal, the greater tin- 

 number of bu-hels that can be grown to the acre, [f 

 we have a variety that is desirable in every other jv- 

 xcept that the bulbs are too flat, we can in a 

 fe.v years develop it into a globular onion. Eacb.suc- 

 year. the bulbs which show the slightest 

 <: parture from the general flat form are selected for 



seed. This, at first, may be almost imperceptible ; 

 but there will be variations, however insignificant, 

 and these must be encouraged. By selecting each 

 year the least flat bulbs, we soon may be able to se- 



I lect those the most round, and ultimately have those 



! that are quite globular. 



An onion, to keep well, should have a very short 

 neck, and at maturity the bulb should be firm and 

 solid around and at the base of the neck. A well- 

 known Connecticut seed-grower of the writer's ac- 

 quaintance worked for several years to reduce and 

 improve the neck, and the results were most striking. 

 In the first place, the grower of onion seed should 

 have in view his ideal onion ; i. e., fix in his mind the 

 kind of onion he would have, and, in selecting his 

 bulbs for seed, choose only those which show the 

 nearest approach to that ideal. 

 Onions set out for seed do not need a rich soil, as 



i too much manure is said to diminish the fertility of 

 the flowers, and cause many to blight. 



The bulbs selected for seed may be kept until 

 spring, but it is much better to plant them out in the 

 fall. They should be put out some weeks before really 

 cold weather sets in, in order that they may form 

 nmts and get well established before the ground 

 freezes. Early in October is a good time in the 

 Northern States. By planting at this time the job is 

 out of the way ; there is no difficulty about keeping 

 the seed onions through the winter, and there is no 



j danger that some one may take si fancy to carry such 



j onions to the kitchen. 



The onions for seed may be set out in rows far 

 enough apart to work with a horse-cultivator, or, if 

 to he kept clean by hand, the rows may be twelve to 

 eighteen inches apart. Open a furrow about six 

 inches deep, set in the onions six or eight inches apart 

 in the f n rrow, and cover with the hoe. In spring, use 

 the cultivator or hoe as soon as the soil is dry enough, 

 and keep down the weeds until the crop is ripe. The 

 cluster of seeds is quite heavy, and as the stalks are 



