THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 309 



drainage all other requirements can be met. As a general rule new- 

 land is not adapted to onion growing until it has been worked one or 

 two years with other crops. Onions should follow some crop that has 

 been kept under the hoe and free from weeds the previous season. 

 Corn, beans, and potatoes are suitable crops with which to precede 

 onions. Muck and sandy soils may in some cases be brought to a 

 suitable condition for onions the first season, but the fitting will have 

 to be very thoroughly performed. The land should be plowed in the 

 autumn, then replowed in the spring, after which numerous harrow- 

 ings and doubtless some hand work will be required to get the soil 

 in suitable shape. If necessary to manure the land heavily before 

 planting to onions, it will be desirable to plant to some farm crop 

 one season, then apply the manure during the autumn in order to 

 give it time to become incorporated with the^oil. Owing to the 

 value of good onion land it would not be advisable to devote it to 

 general farm crops for any extended period, although corn is fre- 

 quently planted and oats or rye are sometimes used in the North. 

 Cowpeas may be of great service in bringing new land into shape for 

 planting to onions. 



Preparation of the Soil. Assuming that the land intended for 

 planting to onions is capable of being brought to a good mechanical 

 condition, fertile, well drained, and reasonably free from weed seeds, 

 the first step in the production of the crop will be to plow moderately 

 deep, then harrow, disk, roll, and drag until the soil is smooth and 

 mellow to a depth of 4 or 5 inches. On soils that are naturally well 

 drained and where surface water can not accumulate, the plowing 

 may be done in large blocks, but where the opposite conditions are 

 found or irrigation is practiced it may be necessary to plow the land 

 in narrow beds. In the case of insufficient drainage it will be desir- 

 able to throw the soil together into beds, leaving a double furrow 

 between each bed to carry off surplus water. Where the flooding 

 system of irrigation is practiced the beds must be leveled and a system 

 of ditches and ridges provided for distributing and controlling the 

 water. 



Crop Rotation. Onions should not be planted on the same piece 

 of land year after year, and some system of crop rotation should be 

 maintained. Care should be taken, however, to use crops in the 

 rotation that will not be exhaustive of the high fertility necessary in 

 the onion land. During the years when the land is not devoted to 

 onions it can be planted to some truck crop that will give a return 

 that will justify the application of large quantities of fertilizers, or, 

 better to a leguminous crop to be turned under as green manure. 

 Continuous cropping with onions will cause the land to become in- 

 fested with both disease and insect enemies that will sooner or later 

 injure the crop to such an extent as to render it unprofitable. 



Fertilizers. As the onion is an intensive crop and yields great 

 quantities of marketable bulbs for the area planted, the grower is 

 justified in manuring heavily. It would be difficult indeed to make 

 the soil too rich for onions, provided the manures are thoroughly in- 

 corporated with the soil. A heavy application of fresh raw manure 



