368 VEGETABLE FORCING 



the varieties may be used for forcing, but the Egyptian or 

 Top onion is most generally employed. It is an 

 extremely hardy onion that endures the hardest freezing. 

 An Ohio grower describes his method as follows in the 

 Market Growers' Journal: 



"I plant the largest sets I can get in the open ground early in 

 September, 2 inches deep, 4 or 5 inches apart in the row, and the 

 rows 14 or 15 inches apart. These will make a nice growth before 

 cold weather sets in and winter nicely without protection. I culti- 

 vate the following summer just as any other garden crop, and harvest 

 the sets during July or August. After the top sets have been har- 

 vested we cut the old stem off about 1 inch below the surface of 

 the ground. This leaves the ground level and ready for the mulch- 

 ing which is the secret of long green onions for bunching. We 

 cover the entire surface with coarse manure 4 or 5 inches deep, 

 just as it comes from the livery stable. We are careful that no 

 heavy bunches of manure lie directly on the row. Within a few 

 weeks the onions are through the mulch and make a number of 

 long, green shoots from fa to fa of an inch in thickness and from 

 12 to 20 in number. Roots and all are harvested in the late fall 

 just before hard freezing sets in, and stored in any protected place. 

 "We use unoccupied coldframes and pack as closely as the onions 

 can be set, with a little earth between the rows, packed well against 

 the roots. This gives us access to them at any time in the winter. 

 We begin forcing about December 1 by placing them under our 

 propagating benches in the greenhouse, always in a perpendicular 

 position to avoid having them grow crooked. We allow about three 

 weeks for the first setting to grow a new top and to be ready for 

 our market. Toward spring, less time is required for them to attain 

 marketable size. They grow so rapidly when placed in a house that 

 only a few can be put in at one time. We put in new stock each 

 day when we take out any for sale." 



Sometimes the garden beds of sets are heavily mulched 

 during the winter, dug early in the spring and taken to 

 the greenhouse for forcing. Another plan is to plant the 

 top sets in August or early in September. Before the 

 ground freezes late in the fall the sets are dug and 

 heeled in close together in a cool shed, from which they 



