THINNING AND TRANSPLANTING 



and weather and give them good care, the heads 

 should be round and firm, crisp and tender, and your 

 family will say "nothing ever tasted so good." 



Next to need our attention is onions; if you 

 planted "sets" some of them have grown large 

 enough to eat. Test them the same way as you did 

 radishes, pulling only those that are large enough 

 and leaving the others to grow a little longer. If 

 you sowed seed, the tiny hair-like plants are no 

 doubt up and you must watch very carefully that 

 weeds do not get a good start among them; this 

 work you must do on your hands and knees, and if 

 the plants are very thick, pull some out while they 

 are tiny, letting those that remain be about one inch 

 apart. When these grow to be about the size of 

 the "sets" or the radishes you pulled and ate, take 

 out every other one, then they will stand 2 inches 

 apart ; in a week or so pull out every other one again. 

 Then they will be four inches apart; now let them 

 grow all summer, keeping them cultivated, but do 

 not try to cover the bulb as it grows for onions must 

 sit on top of the ground and will work -and work to 

 get out if you cover them. They will work so hard 

 to get on top of the ground they will not have time 

 to grow fat and so you will have a poor crop. 



You will remember I told you long ago in "Seeds 



83 



