Encyclopaedia of Gardening 207 



ness of straw. White threads will run from the spawn, form Mush- 

 rooms, and pierce the soil, growing above in thick clusters, from 

 which they should be broken as they become large enough for use. 

 When grown under cover less manure and straw will be needed, as 

 the necessary heat and darkness can be secured with a smaller 

 quantity of the materials. 



Mustard (Sinapis alba). A popular salad or relish, generally 

 associated with Cress. It may be grown in the same way. See 

 Cress. 



Onion (Allium cepa). As a component of soups and stews the 

 Onion is admittedly almost indispensable, and cottagers at all 

 events give it a wider use, not hesitating to promote it to the rank of 

 a major vegetable, nor even to eat it raw with bread and cheese and 

 the particular beverage which they favour. For salads a white, mild 

 variety should be chosen and sown in August; another sowing 

 may be made in spring. It is customary to sow a larger, stronger- 

 flavoured sort at the same time in summer, and transplant in 

 autumn or spring to yield large bulbs before the spring-sown crop 

 is ready. Varieties so treated are classed as " Autumn Onions." 

 For the main crop it suffices to sow when the ground becomes dry 

 enough to crumble in March or April. A piece of soil is dug deeply 

 and manured liberally. The surface is crumbled up, dusted with 

 soot, and then trodden quite firm. A little soil for covering is 

 scratched up with the rake, and the seed is sown thinly in lines a 

 foot apart. After sowing the seed is covered, the bed well trodden, 

 and the surface lightly raked over. The plants are subsequently 

 thinned till just clear of each other; severe thinning is avoided 

 except for prize bulbs. It is well to spray the plants with soft soap 

 and paraffin oil in solution (see Paraffin oil) when they are 2 or 3 ins. 

 high, in order to keep off the Onion fly, which otherwise will lay 

 eggs on the leaves in May, and grubs, hatching therefrom, will work 

 their way to the bulbs and destroy the plants. Thereafter the plants 

 will grow steadily until mid- June or July, when they are subject to 

 the attack of a mould or mildew. This must be checked at the first 

 trace by spraying with liver of sulphur, % oz. per gallon of water, 

 in August the tops may be broken over to check growth, and a 

 fortnight later the bulbs may be pulled up and left in the sun to 

 dry. When fully ripe they may be strung together and hung up in 

 a dry, cool shed. Useful varieties : A i, Ailsa Craig, Bedfordshire 

 Champion, James's Keeping, White Spanish. Potato or under- 

 ground Onions are very useful, and are grown from bulbs in the 

 same way as Shallots (see p. 212). 



Parsley (Carum Petroselinum) . The housewife likes to have a 

 row of Parsley in her garden from which to gather sprigs for garnish- 

 ing her dishes, and there is no trouble in giving her what she wants 

 every day in the year provided frame room can be found in winter; 

 otherwise she may go short in spells of hard frost. Our seedsmen 

 know well how greatly the feminine eye is pleased by beauty of 

 form, and they have consequently given us varieties of Parsley 

 that are beautifully curled. The seed of these may be sown in the 

 open in March. The soil should be covered with decayed manure 

 and then dug deeply, turning the manure well in. Four ounces of 



