SOWING — CULTIVATION. 515 



plowing being generally too loose, and sometimes too lumpy; 

 upland generally requires a coat of manure biennially, and caro 

 should be used in selecting that which is most free from weed 

 and grass seeds. 



SOWING. 



I make it a point to sow the crop about the first of 

 April, or at the earliest opportunity in Sprino,', between March 

 and the first of Ma}^ I have sown on the twenty-third of 

 February, with good results. The ground should in all cases 

 be in good order before sowing. The common way is to level 

 the land with a clod crusher, then sow in drills twelve inches 

 a])art and one inch deep, with an ordinary drill made for the 

 purpose. 



CULTIVATION. 



Cultivation should commence as soon as the young plants 

 straighten up, as they always come up double. It' the crop 

 can be kept clean through the mouth of June, it is con- 

 sidered secure. The wheel hoe is much used in its culture, 

 and the straddle row cultivator, which cuts all the ground 

 except an inch that the plants stand on. My son, who is an 

 expert, cultivated five acres, and kept them perfectly clean 

 Avith hiring only two and one-half days' labor, together with 

 two acres of potatoes. I usually gather when one-half to two- 

 thirds of the tops have fallen, b}'' throwing six rows together, 

 pulling the two center rows first. This is a convenience in 

 stripping (as we term it), which is generally done with a sharp 

 knife. When the bulbs are to remain on the field any length 

 of time, the piles should never contain more than ten bushels, 

 to prevent heating. 1 usually haul fifty bushels at a load, 

 marketing them at Davenport, where a ready market is always 

 found at some price. The onions are mostly shipped to St. 

 Louis and towns along the Mississippi river, smaller lots some- 

 times being shipped to Leavenworth, Kan., and occasionally to 

 Philadelphia and other points east. I have known the crop to 

 be sold at five cents per bushel, the first year of the war, and 



