THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



71 



partial light and a tsmperature of from 

 50 to 65 degrees. Strong sprouts began 

 to push from the eyes, very different in 

 appearance from those of potatoes sprout- 

 ing in the dark and in bulk. 



On March 22 all of these lots were plant' 

 ed in furrows, the tubers being carefully 

 removed from the sand and planted entire 

 in the same position in which they stood 

 in the flats, and fourteen inches apart in 

 the rows. For comparison a similar paral- 

 lel row of each sort was planted of whole 

 tubers selected from the potatoes stored in 

 the cellar. As they grew the sprouted 

 potatoes took the lead in strength and vig- 

 or of tops from the start, and both lots of 

 whole seed kept ahead of cut seed of the 

 same varieties. On June 1, the sand 

 sprouted lots showed excellent young table 

 potatoes, while none of the others were 

 yet fit for digging and not only were they 

 more than a week earlier but the yield was 

 proportionately greater. 



HOT BED MANURE. 

 Good horse stable manure with not too 

 much straw or litter is the best material 

 for hot bed manure. It should not be 

 burned out or it will develop only a mild 

 heat. In the latter part of February, or 

 earlier according to locality a pile of man- 

 ure in quantity sufficient to make a bed 18 

 inches deep under the sash to be used 

 should be hauled to the place needed, 

 forked over evenly, dry portions being 

 thoroughly wet, and built into a compact 

 mound. When fermentation is well under 

 way as indicated by the steaming of the 

 pile, in about a week or ten days, it should 

 be forked into another pile pitching the 

 outer portions of the first toward the cen- 

 ter of the second, again wetting all por- 

 tions that are dry. In about another week 

 it will be in a strong fermentation and 

 ready to build into the final bed. 



new onion culture differs from the old in 

 that the seed is sown under glass in Feb- 

 ruary or March and the plants set in the 

 open ground about the first of May, cut- 

 ting back the tops and roots too, if they 

 are long, and putting them three inches 

 apart in the rows. The old way is to plant 

 seed in open field about April 1. Hows 

 about 14 inches apart and thining plants 

 to four inches. A heavy application of 

 barn-yard manure gives better results with 

 onions than the more concentrated ferti- 

 lizers. 



The most important onion disease is the 

 thrips (Thrips atriatus Ost of the family 

 Thripidae). A 10-to-l solution of the 

 standard mixture of kerosene emulsion is 

 the most efficient remedy, applied as soon 

 as the insect appears. 



CULTIVATING ONIONS. 

 Success with onions is a matter of study 

 and a great deal of hard work, but no crop 

 yields such uniform and large profits. The 



WINTERING CABBAGES. 

 A Colorado farmer gives the following 

 method for keeping cabbages in winter. 

 ''I plow deep furrows by going two or 

 three times in a furrow with a plow turn- 

 ing fourteen inches wide. I run a furrow 

 to every four rows of cabbage, or to three 

 if the cabbages are thick in the row, I 

 let cabbages lie four or five hours after 

 pulling, then pack closely in the furrows 

 with the heads down. At first they are 

 covered with a light layer of earth by 

 throwing a furrow from each side. At 

 the approach of severe weather I cover 

 with coarse, strawy manure, but not so 

 thickly as to heat. Those to be kept till 

 late in spring keep better if placed on the 

 shady side of rows of trees. We have 

 very little rain in winter, and this plan 

 might not do so well where rains and 

 snows are heavier." 



FATTENING CATTLE. 

 About one million head of cattle have 

 been sent to the country for fattening 

 purposes, from Chicago, Kansas City, 

 Omaha, St. Louis and Denver, so far this 

 year. Last year during a like period only 

 597,000 cattle were sent out and in 1895 

 only 552,000. The demand is still brisk. 



