CHAPTER II 

 "As You Make Your Bed, So Yoi^ll Lie 



WHAT SOIL TO SELECT, HOW TO MANURE AND 

 PREPARE IT 



"What spot would you advise me to select for 

 my onion patch ?" 



The inquirer had told me that he had a piece of 

 good loam, not excessively fertile, 'tis true, but having 

 been cropped with carrots and beets the year before, 

 consequently quite clean, and in fair tilth, and of 

 course, well imderdrained. 



"That is the exact spot you want," said I. 



"Why not plant it on that deep, rich muck?" 

 came the next query. 



"It is decidedly too loose and moist. The fine 

 Gibraltars and Prizetakers might all take a notion to 

 grow up thick-necked — romps, scallions, and worthless 

 for sale or keep. By all means take loam, sandy pre- 

 ferred, and if possible with good natural drainage, but 

 certainly not without thorough drainage of some kind. 

 Water should never stand on the surface of an onion 

 patch even for a single day." 



On the whole, however, I do not object to well- 

 drained, deep, rich muck. I myself have grown ex- 

 cellent crops, in the old way, on such soil, and once 

 I went through a several-acre patch in Mt Alorris, 

 N Y — soil being muck with a little sand mixed in, 

 and the land arranged for sub-irrigation — which had 

 an enormous crop of Yellow Danvers upon it, un- 

 doubtedly more than looo bushels per acre. It will 



