2l8 PRIZE GARDENING 



my fingers, I mean where the ground is soft. Run the 

 finger down into the dirt close to the onion and work up 

 carefully and loosen and take away some of the earth, 

 and as they get larger thin them well and take away 

 more earth. They should be, when full grown, stand- 

 ing entirely out of the ground, just the roots only in 

 the earth. I had a little plot in my garden, seventeen by 

 thirty feet, and gathered eight and three-fourths 

 bushels of marketable onions from it. 



The Onion Harvest. — The onions, according to 

 the methods of E. Elton, Douglas county, Nebraska, 

 are pulled, throwing five rows into one, and let dry for 

 a couple of days. They are then picked up and sold or 

 put into a building until it freezes through the build- 

 ing. They are then taken out and sold, or kept near 

 freezing point till selling price is better. 



Tomatoes were very popular as a prize garden 

 crop. They were quite generally successful, and their 

 profuse yield sometimes saved the day, so far as con- 

 cerned profit from the season's operations. One of 

 the most complete of the numerous tomato reports 

 comes from A. A. Atwood of Iowa. 



His tomato seed was planted in a bed made by 

 driving down stakes and nailing up wide boards and 

 covering it nights and cold days. It was planted April 

 15, in rows five to six inches apart, and covered one- 

 half inch deep. The plants came up slowly, but grew 

 well, and Mr. Atwood raised about eight thousand 

 from one-fourth pound of seed. The variety was 

 Stone. The ground was plowed seven or eight inches 

 deep, harrowed, cross-harrowed and marked in rows 

 three and one-half feet apart. He set just an acre, 

 beginning to transplant May 24 and finishing June 7, 

 setting the plants three feet apart and using four 

 thousand one hundred and thirty-six. A few plants 

 had to be reset, principally on account of cutworms. 



