IRRIGATION OF THE GARDEN. 183 



marked out in rows from two to three feet apart. In 

 these the root pieces are planted, fifteen or eighteen 

 inches apart. "The planting is done by making a hole 

 with a long, slim dibble or planting stick, or with a 

 small, light iron bar, and dropping the set, square end 

 down, into it, so that the top end is left a little below 

 the surface. Then press the soil firmly against the set. 

 Keep the cultivator or wheel hoe going till the top 

 growth renders further working unnecessary. The sets 

 should be planted out in May or June. Catch crops of 

 beets, lettuce and spinach can be planted along with the 

 horse-radish and harvested before the horse-radish has 

 made much headway. Irrigation every week until the 

 sets take new root is advisable, and the growth may be 

 pushed. After the plants are well established they will 

 require, less water. When its roots once get into the 

 soil they live and thrive until forcibly exterminated by 

 being rooted up. But if allowed to grow at its own free 

 will without cultivation, the plant degenerates rapidly 

 and becomes, in a few years, scarcely fit for table pur- 

 poses, for which it is now used. 



Onions. There are two methods of applying water 

 to onions by flooding and by furrows. Some men ob- 

 ject to flooding, but the writer has no objection to 

 charge against it so long as it is done in the right man- 

 ner. For flooding, the ground maybe laid -off in beds 

 from ten to fifteen or even twenty feet in width and ten 

 rods long. The size of the beds will be governed some- 

 what by the water supply. The beds should be level, 

 and it is better to have them level lengthwise, and they 

 may have a slight incline. If the beds are level length- 

 wise the soil can be wet to any desired depth. Water 

 may be turned on until it stands an inch deep all over 

 the bed, which would be equivalent to a rainfall of one 

 and one-half to two inches, or it may be turned on to a 

 depth 'of six inches, according to the requirements of 



