The Culture of Vegetables 



may be omitted, as the Onion makes a weak grass that cannot well 

 push through earth that is caked over it. But speaking generally, an 

 Onion bed newly sown should be like a long pie, and as smooth as if 

 finished with a rolling-pin. To the beginner this will appear a pro- 

 tracted and complicated story, but the expert will attest that Onions 

 require and will abundantly pay for special management, and if we 

 do not begin well in the business assuredly we shall not end well. 



As soon as possible after the crop is visible the ground between 

 should be delicately chopped over with the hoe to check the weeds 

 that will then be rising. Immediately the rows are defined a first 

 thinning should be made with a two-inch hoe, care being taken to 

 leave a good plant on the ground. The next thinning will produce 

 young Onions for saladings, and this kind of thinning may be con- 

 tinued by removing plants equally all over the bed to insure an even 

 crop, the final distance for bulbing being from three to six inches. 

 The hoe must be kept at work between, for if weeds are allowed to 

 make way, the crop will be seriously injured. When Onions are 

 doing well they lift themselves up and sit on the earth, needing light 

 and air upon their bulbs to the very axis whence the roots diverge. 

 If weeds spread amongst them the bulbs are robbed of air and light, 

 and their keeping properties are impaired. But in the use of the hoe 

 care must be taken not to loosen the ground or to draw any earth 

 towards the bulbs. When all the thinning has been done, and the 

 weeds are kept down, it will perhaps be observed that in places 

 there are clusters of bulbs fighting for a place and rising out of the 

 ground together as though enjoying the conflict. With almost any 

 other kind of plant this crowding would bode mischief, but with 

 Onions it is not so. Bulbs that grow in crowds and rise out of the 

 ground will never be so large as those that have plenty of room, but 

 they will be of excellent quality, and will keep better than any that 

 have had ample space for high development. It is almost a pity to 

 touch these accidental clusters, for the removal of a portion will 

 perhaps loosen the ground, and so spoil the character of those that 

 are left. Really fine Onions are rarely produced in loose ground, 

 hence the necessity for care in the use of the hoe. Watering is not 

 often needed, and we may go so far as to say that, in a general way, 

 it is objectionable. But a long drought on light land may put the 

 crop in jeopardy, unless watering is resorted to, in which case weak 

 manure water will be beneficial. Still, watering must be discontinued 

 in good time, or it will prevent the ripening of the bulbs, and if a 

 sign is wanted the growth will afford it, for from the time the bulbs 



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