CULTURE OF THE ONION. 64? 



will then keep well. It is an excellent onion for the cottager, as it 

 produces both an early and a certain crop. 



The Bulb-bearing Onion. The small bulbs are collected from the 

 heads of the stems, and planted in shallow drills in September ; or the 

 stems, with the heads and bulbs attached, are hung up in a dry airy 

 shed from October till February, and the bulbs are then planted rather 

 closer together than those of the potato-onion. The crop will be fit 

 to take up in July, or the beginning of August. 



Treatment Common to all the Kinds. When the leaves begin to 

 decay at the points, or when any indication of running to fljwer 

 appears, bend down the stem an inch or two above the bulb, in order 

 to check the supply of sap thrown into the leaves, and thereby promote 

 its accumulation in the bulb. This is commonly done by one person 

 with the back of a rake, or by two, with the handle of a rake or hoe 

 between them. If one bending has not the desired effect, repeat the 

 operation, or bend the stem back again, or give it a twist and turn 

 down at the same time. In very warm dry seasons, the bulbs come to 

 maturity and the stems decay naturally,with perhaps a few exceptions ; 

 but in cold wet seasons, the operation is useful, and is generally per- 

 formed about the middle of August. 



Diseases, Insects, fyc. The onion in good soil is little subject to 

 disease, but there are some insects which live on it in their grub or 

 maggot state. When a crop has been attacked by insects, but little 

 can be done ; but when an attack is anticipated, it may perhaps be 

 prevented by watering the ground with some fetid liquid, such as 

 putrid urine, or thin putrid liquid manure, which by its offensive 

 smell will deter the parent insect from depositing its eggs in the plant, 

 and at the same time invigorate the plant and prepare it to resist 

 their attacks. It is almost impossible to save a crop when once 

 maggots attack it. The best remedies are deep cultivation and firm 

 consolidation of the soil. The soil should likewise be so rich as to 

 hurry the onion through the maggot stage, which is an early one in 

 its growth. The maggots attack the plants at the bottom, and eat their 

 way upwards ; hence the difficulty of destroying them. 



The onion-fly, an insect not unlike the common house-fly, is the 

 most common insect which attacks the onion, the leek, and the shallot, 

 and as it frequently occasions very serious losses, the following details 

 respecting it by Mr. Westwood may be useful. During the summer 

 months, and especially in June and July, the cultivator of onions is 

 annoyed by perceiving that, here and there, in various parts of his 

 crops, the plants appear to be in a dying state, and the leaves fallen 

 on the ground. At first, this is observed in plants which are only 

 just above the surface of the soil, and which are not above the thick- 

 ness of a straw. These soon die, and then others, of a larger size, are 

 observed to decay in a similar manner ; this continues until the middle 

 of July, and even until the onions are full-grown ; at which time they 

 have occasionally sufficient strength to survive the injury, with the 

 decay of a portion only of their outer layer or root, the centre part 

 remaining sound. In this manner whole beds are destroyed ; and it 



