22 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



the plants as much as I dared to in the row, in the 

 attempt to secure the largest possible rate of yield. 

 My motto was : "No use wasting space and oppor- 

 tunity." But I got over that notion. I find that I can 

 give the patch better attention, more thorough and 

 continued after-culture, if I jnake the rows fourteen 

 inches apart, and set Gibraltars four inches, and Prize- 

 takers not less than three inches apart in the rows. 

 It is only when I plant onion seedlings to be pulled 

 i-ip early for green or bunching onions (and they are 

 admirable for that purpose) that I crowd them to 

 two inches in the row. 



Fig 17 — OLD STYLE GARDEN MARKER 



For garden markers, we have almost up to this 

 time relied chiefly on homemade aflFairs, such as the 

 one shown in Fig 17. This has the one great disad- 

 vantage of compelling the operator to walk backward 

 or sideways. A set of handles might be attached at 

 the rear by which one person can do the steering while 

 another pulls it along horse-fashion. I now have dis- 

 carded this implement altogether. 



For marking out the rows for onions in smaller 

 patches, up to one-eighth or even one-fourth acre, 

 I commonly use an Iron Age hand wheel hoe, fitting 

 it for that particular purpose by removing the side 

 hoes, and adjusting the single-tooth attachment shown 

 in Fig 18. With this I can make lighter or heavier 

 iurrows, by bearing more or less heavily on the han- 



