10 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



ter; and when the benches were cleared from them in 

 April, filled the vacant spaces up with tomato, egg and 

 pepper plants just as fast as there was a chance. Thus 

 I make the best use of my available bench room. 



Often there is considerable call for Prizetaker 

 onion plants in early spring, and even up to June. 

 The price usually asked for them ranges from fifty 

 cents to one dollar per thousand plants, and I am sure 

 that they can be grown at that figure at a good profit 

 where greenhouses are available, and possibly stand 

 idle anywhere during a part of that time. 



In growing onion seedlings under glass I have 

 had to fight only one single enemy — and that is the 

 damping-ofif fungus. I have at times lost a consider- 

 able portion of my plants from this cause. The stem 

 appears to dwindle away near, usually just below, the 

 surface of the ground, and the top falls over and dries 

 away. The infection undoubtedly comes from the soil. 

 If we use new soil, or any soil that is free from the 

 fungus, the plants will remain healthy. Watering the 

 soil freely with a solution of copper sulphate, a pound 

 to two hundred gallons of water, has seemed to prevent 

 the loss of plants from this cause. An excessively 

 high temperature and a close, moist atmosphere should 

 be avoided, and the surface of the bed should never be 

 allowed to become dust dry. To provide for possible 

 loss caused by the disease, however, I practice and 

 advise sowing seed rather thickly as already stated 

 (not less than one and one-half ounces to the space 

 covered by an ordinary hotbed sash). It is better to 

 be compelled to thin plants where too thick, than to 

 have large vacant spots in the bed. 



It is possible, however, to prepare the seed bed in 

 such a manner that the fungus is entirely kept out. 

 For instance, I have used clear, sharp sand brought 

 fresh frorn the bank of the river, sovyed the seed in 



