The Culture of Vegetables 



only way to save them then is to top and tail them again, and store 

 as dry as possible in smallish parcels. 



To grow Large Onions the same principles must be observed 

 as already set forth, but the cultivator must give the plant more space 

 and more time. One mode of enlarging the time is to sow seeds of 

 the large-growing kinds in autumn and transplant them in spring to 

 beds of rich soil, prepared as described for the sowing of spring seeds. 

 The rows should be fifteen inches apart, and the bulbs nine inches 

 in the row. The work should be done by drawing deep drills, into 

 which is thrown a compost of earth and pigeons' droppings, or some 

 equally strong, but suitably prepared, fertiliser. A little earth is then 

 drawn back into the drill, and the roots are placed and moulded up 

 with the hands, the ground being afterwards carefully trodden to firm 

 them in and make a proper finish. Another and less desirable but 

 often successful mode of procedure is to sow the seed on poor ground 

 about the middle of May, so as to secure a crop of small ripe bulbs 

 the same season. These are harvested with care and put in small 

 parcels in nets, which are suspended in a light, airy loft or seed-room, 

 and are planted out in spring in the same way as advised for autumn- 

 sown crops. It is the nature of the Onion to run up to seed in its 

 second season, and a few of these May sowings will do so when planted 

 out. But the bulk of them will make a second growth and swell to a 

 large size, not having had time the previous year (through being sown 

 late) to mature within them the germs of the seed-heads. 



Autumn-SOwn Onions, intended for an ordinary useful crop, 

 are to be sown in the same way as advised for spring sowing. The time 

 of * sowing is important, as the plants should be forward enough 

 before winter to be useful, but not so forward as to be in danger of 

 injury from severe frost. Several modern varieties are profitable for 

 drawing during winter and spring, as they soon acquire size and 

 make a good show. On well-drained ground all the sorts are hardy, 

 and the finest types, which are so much prized as household and 

 market Onions, may be sown in autumn as safely as any others. It 

 may be well in most places to sow a small plot in the latter part of 

 July, and to make a large sowing of the best keeping sorts about 

 the middle of August say, for the far north the first of the month, 

 and for the far south the very last day. In places where spring- 

 sown Onions do not ripen in good time in consequence of cold wet 

 weather, autumn sowing may prove advantageous, as the ripening 

 will take place when the summer is at its best, and the crop may be 

 taken off before the season breaks down. 



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