300 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



April, then as the plants develop in the drills which have 

 been sown not too thick, and begin to assume size and 

 form of bulb, at both sides of the row begin to remove the 

 earth with the hoe, the object being to retard the growth 

 of top and form a "set" below. This is repeated, going 

 along each side of the growing onions, removing the dirt 

 and even cutting some of the roots a second time. The 

 tops begin to wither but the bulb increases in size until 

 finally you run the hoe entirely under the roots severing 

 them and leaving the now new formed i l sets ' ' to dry for a 

 few days, when you take them by the handful from the 

 row and shake off the dirt and put them away under cover 

 from sun in a cool place until, say, October. Then plant 

 these "sets" and they will grow to onions fast and in 

 advance of anything you can get from seed and give you 

 large juicy onions. 



Rotation, The advantage of clean land for onions has 

 been mentioned. This is often best secured by allowing 

 onions to follow carrots or potatoes or corn. The cultiva- 

 tion of these vegetables sprouts and kills many weeds, 

 which are more easily handled in connection with those 

 crops than with the onions. The cultivation also renders 

 the soil more friable, which is a prime requisite to the 

 growth of onions. 



Intercropping. Large quantities of onions are grown 

 in strawberry regions, being irrigated incidentally in con- 

 nection with the berries. The strawberry plants are on 

 ridges in rows 18 or 20 inches apart; the onion row be- 

 tween the strawberry rows parallel thereto in the center 

 of the ridge, the ridges being also 18 to 20 inches apart, so 

 that the water runs down between the ridges. Onions 

 are also grown between the trees in young orchard on rich, 

 deep, moist, or irrigated land. This cannot be long con- 

 tinued to advantage, as onions do not take kindly to shade, 

 but delight in full sunshine. 



Varieties. Out of the multitude of varieties a few have 

 proved most serviceable and satisfactory for California 



