300 



ON I 



ONI 



never been able to find the least 

 advantage from either of these 

 methods : Nor do 1 think they 

 ought to be practised ; for 1 can- 

 not easily conceive how the crush- 

 ing and woundirtg any plant, while 

 it is growing, should conduce toils 

 improvement. Though some may 

 have good crops, who treat them 

 in this manner. I am persuaded 

 that if they neglected it, they 

 would have much better crops. 

 For, besides the mischief alrea- 

 dy mentioned, the sun is shut 

 out from the bulbs by crushnig the 

 tops down upon them ; but the 

 more upright the tops are, the 

 more the sun tvill shine upon the 

 roots. I would sooner cut off part 

 of the tops than go to crushmg 

 them. 



Others shake and twist the tops, 

 to loosen the bulbs in the soil, 

 which 1 cannot approve of: For if 

 it do not snap off some of the 

 fibrous roots, it gives too free a 

 passage of the air to them, by 

 which, if dry weather follow, they 

 will be injured, rather than assist 

 ed in their growth. 



When onions are thick-necked, 

 do not incline to bottom, but ra 

 ther to be what are vulgarly called 

 scallions, the more care should be 

 taken to harden the ground about 

 them, and to lay the brUlbs bare to 

 the sun. And it may be proper 

 to let them touch the soil only in 

 that part which sends out the 

 fibrous roots. 



At the worst, if they fail to 

 have good bottoms the first year, 

 and chance to escape rotting till 

 sprmg ; they may perhaps get 

 them by being transplanted. Even 



an onion which is partly rotten 

 will produce two, three, or four 

 good ones, if the seed stems be 

 taken off as soon as they appear. 

 They ripen earlier than young 

 ones, have the name of rare-ripes, 

 and will sell at a h gher price. 



When onions are so ripened that 

 the greenness is entirely gone out 

 of their tops, it is time to take 

 them up : For from this time the 

 fibrous roots decay, and no longer 

 convey any nourishment to the 

 bulbs, as appears by their becom- 

 ing quite loose in the soil, and easy 

 to take up. 



After they are pulled up they 

 should lie on the ground for ten 

 days or a fortnighl, to dry and 

 harden in the sun, if the weather 

 be fair. Then, in fair dry weather, 

 be moved into a garret, and laid 

 thin. The scallions should not be 

 mixed with the good onions, lest 

 they should cause them to rot ; 

 but be hung up in some dry place 

 in small bunches, where they will 

 not be too much exposed to frost. 



That onions may keep well 

 through the winter, they should 

 not be trusted in a warm and moist 

 cellar; but have a situation that is 

 dry and cool. Moisture soon rots 

 them, and warmth causes them to 

 vegetate. A degree of cold which 

 would ruin most other esculent 

 roots, will not injure them at all. 

 The spirit that is in them is suffi- 

 cient to enable them to resist a 

 considerable degree of frost. Ac- 

 cordingly, in the southern parts of 

 this country, as 1 am informed, 

 they are usually kept through the 

 winter in dry casks placed in cham- 

 bers, or garrets. But they should 



