CONTENTS 



Preface 



The Why and Wherefores, a sort of introduction. 



A fable — 1 he cat's trick — History of the new 



onion culture — Blessings of an own home — 



Large scale operations — Horticultural training 



for your boy. 



CHAPTER I 



Well Begun, Half Done. How the plants are grown i 



Procuring seed — Growing seed — Plants in 

 boxes — Hotbeds — Sowing the seed — Fire hot- 

 beds — Hotbeds heated by waste steam — Cheap 

 greenhouses — Plants for sale — Damping off — 

 Soils for flats, frames and benches — Trimming 

 the plants while growing. 



CHAPTER n 



As You Make Your Bed, so you will lie . . 13 



What soil to select — How to manure and 

 prepare it — The best soil — Onions on muck — 

 Sandy loam — Clean soil essential — Manuring 

 the land — An onion and strawberry combina- 

 tion — Preparing the soil. 



CHAPTER ni 



A Difficulty E.\sily Overcome. How the plants 



are set in open ground 21 



The real work — One advantage of trans- 

 planting — Width of planting — Marking the land 

 — ^Trimming the plants before setting — Setting 

 plants — Planting machines. 



CHAPTER IV 



Perseverance That Pays. Tillage as moisture pre- 

 server and weed killer ..... 32 



Objects of cultivation — ^Tools of tillage- 

 Hand weeding — Mulching — Irrigation. 



vii 



