J52 THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap, 



or straight straw, with matting (See Endive.} 

 For seed, pick out. the finest onions, and plant them 

 out in rich land, in the spring. To grow this seed 

 upon a large scale, plough the land into four feet 

 ridges, lay plenty of dung along the furrows, plough 

 the ground back over the dung, flatten the top of 

 the ridge a little, and put along, on the top of the 

 ridge two rows of onions, the rows seven inches 

 apart, and the onions seven inches apart in the 

 rows. When the weeds come, hoe the tops of the 

 ridg.es with a small hoe, and plough first from and 

 then to the ridges, two or three times, at the distance 

 of two or three weeks, as in the case of Ruta Baga, 

 cultivated in the field. When the seed is ripe, cut 

 off the heads and collect them in such a way as not 

 to scatter the seed. Lay them on cloths, in the 

 sun, till dry as dust ; and then thresh out the seed, 

 winnow it, and put it away. The seed will be dead 

 ripe in August, and transplanted Ruta Baga, or 

 Early York Cabbages, or even Kidney dwarf beans, 

 or, perhaps, Buckwheat, may follow upon the same 

 ground, the same year. In a garden there always 

 ought to be a crop to succeed seed-onions the same 

 summer. 



239. PARSLEY. Known to every human be- 

 ing to bear its seed the second year, and, after that, 

 to die away. It may be sown at any season when 

 the frost is out of tb'e ground. The best way is to 

 sow it in spring, and in very clean ground ; because 

 the seed lies long in the ground, and, if the ground 

 be foul, the weeds choak the plants at their coming 

 up. A bed of six feet long and four wide, the seed 

 sown in drills at eight inches apart, is enough for 

 any family in the world. But, every body likes 

 parsley, and where the winter is so long and so 

 sharp as it is in this country, the main thing is to 



