ROOT CROPS. 247 



and a calculation made from the amount of land it covers as to 

 how much you are using to the acre. At the rate of four 

 pounds per acre, an ounce should cover two and a half square 

 rods, and the drill should drop from ten to fifteen seeds to a foot 

 of row. This will seem like thick seeding to the uninitiated, 

 but I have often counted twelve or more perfect onions to a 

 foot of drill. 



I have never found a drill that possessed so many good 

 points as the Mathews, not only for onions but for general work. 

 We use it for any seed from a pea to portulacca or petunia. 

 All the tools described for onions can be used for other garden 

 crops. The best varieties for general cultivation are the red 

 Wethersfield and yellow Danvers, as they are large yielders and 

 good keepers. For home use, some of the white onions are 

 said to be of better flavor. Let the cultivation begin as soon 

 as the plants can be seen in the row, and now you will find 

 the advantage of straight rows, for it will enable you to cut 

 close with the scuffle hoe and have a narrower strip for hand 

 weeding. 



The best implement for the first weeding is the scuffle hoe. 

 It is very easy to use, as it does not require you to stoop or bear 

 down as with a common hoe, but the force is applied 

 by pushing it from you. Another advantage is that 

 you walk backwards and do not tramp the land 

 after it is worked, but the weeds are left loose and 

 are more likely to die than if you walk over the 

 land after it is hoed. In a few days after the 

 scuffle hoeing the crop will need weeding by hand, 

 and this should be thoroughly done. There is no 

 other way but to get down on your knees, and with 

 a common table-knife take the weeds from the row. 

 Onions do not need deep culture, but they must be 

 kept clean, and the scuffle hoeings and hand weed- 

 ings must be repeated often enough to keep down 

 all weeds. After the onions are six inches high 

 the hand plow can be used between the rows, and this will 

 enable you to do the work more rapidly. 



