GARDEN ONIONS. 299 



lay with the ones previously pulled. This leaves them 

 in a continuous pile across the field for topping, which is 

 generally done with a sharp knife after the onions have 

 laid a few days to more fully mature. While topping, 

 the bulbs* are usually thrown in heaps ready for market 

 or to store away, as the grower may determine. It is best 

 to sack or haul from the fields while the sun shines, as 

 the onions should be perfectly dry in either case." 



Yield. Ten tons per acre is a fair yield on good soil, 

 well handled, but this amount is frequently exceeded and 

 even 30 tons has been secured, according to credible testi- 

 mony. 



Garden Culture of Onions. Garden culture proceeds 

 upon about the same lines as field work, and by methods 

 already described. Due regard should be had for suc- 

 cession, and by proper use of water in summer and of 

 ridge or raised bed in early winter, it is practicable to 

 have crisp, young onions all the year, and mature ones 

 with but a very short season of storage. Onions have been 

 matured from seed sown every month of the year, but the 

 ripening was not reached every month because progress 

 is slower at one time than at another. 



In the garden onions should have most generous treat- 

 ment, for delicate flavor and crispness depend upon quick 

 growth. The use of fertilizers in preparation of the soil, 

 and of liquid manure during growth, are strong helps to- 

 ward this. The onion accepts gratefully the richest man- 

 ures if well decomposed and well mixed with the soil. 



The first top-onions in the fall can be grown by using 

 bottom sets planted closely in the row just as soon as the 

 ground is well moistened by early rains. The succession 

 can be had by sowing seed at intervals, beginning at the 

 same time the sets are put in and continued when the 

 ground is in good condition until spring. 



The following method of growing sets for garden use 

 is approved by the experience of Mr. F. Austin, of San 

 Diego county, who grows fine vegetables for the love of 

 it : Sow the seed in the spring, say March, not later than 



