30 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



large stones. It had been manured but little for many years. 

 For five or six years, I applied to it about five cords of muscle- 

 bed to the acre, costing about two dollars per cord. Since then, 

 I have applied about five cords of manure, principally from the 

 stables, to the acre, costing from four to five dollars a cord. In 

 the spring I plough the land once, then harrow it and bush it, 

 and rake it so as to make the surface finely pulverized, and free 

 of all impediments to the sowing of the seed. I use a machine 

 for distributing the seed. A man will sow two acres in a day, 

 after the land is properly prepared. I use about three pounds 

 of seed to the acre. I raise my own seed. It is estimated worth 

 one dollar a pound. I am careful in selecting the best-formed 

 onions for seed. Great improvement has been made in the qual- 

 ity within a few years, by care in the selection of onions for 

 seed. I usually weed them twice with care. I now use a ma- 

 chine for the hoeing which moves on wheels, and diminishes the 

 labor very much. A man with a machine will readily hoe an 

 acre in a day. The next process is the pulling and throwing 

 them into beds. When this is done, if the weather is fair, they 

 will need to be turned once with a rake: and then, in about two 

 weeks after they are pulled, they will be in a condition to be 

 gathered. They are sorted by children. I have frequently 

 known boys and girls of ten years of age, sort fifty bushels in 

 a day. The usual allowance for this is one cent a basket. Lot 

 No. 2, has been cultivated with the onion for about ten years. 

 It is land of very good quality. The crops on this were extreme- 

 ly good. Lot No. 3, was never before cultivated with the 

 onion. It is a hard, rocky, strong soil. The average quan- 

 tity of manure on all the land was about five cords to the acre. 

 The land on which these crops were raised, in its present condi- 

 tion, is worth about two hundred dollars per acre. Care has 

 been taken, in years past, to prevent the weeds seeding upon the 

 land ; and hence the labor of cultivation has been much lessened. 

 Myself, and a boy about fifteen years old, have done all the la- 

 bor, excepting about twelve dollars worth hired by the day. I 

 have other lands and crops to attend to ; so that not so much as 

 half our time has been applied to the onions. Our crop, the pres- 

 ent season, amounts to nineteen hundred and eighty bushels of 



