8*2 ESSAY ON ONIONS. 



found on old ground than on new ; and particularly where the ground 

 has been covered during the winter with chichweed or oilier vegeta- 

 ble substance, on which the eggs from which they originate may 

 have been deposited. Hence a benefit of clearing the ground of 

 all vegetable matter or other obstructions, in the Autumn after the 

 crop is gathered. This clearing also facilitates the early planting in 

 the Spring. Autumnal ploughing, as it exposes the soil more fully 

 to the action of the frost, and disarranges all abodes for the winter 

 made by insects, may have a tendency to diminish their number. 



6. The time and manner of harvesting. 



When the tops begin to wither and fall, then it is usual to start 

 the onions from their bed and throw them together in rows, say eight 

 or ten growing rows into one. After they have lain thus about one 

 week, they are stirred and turned with a rake, and in about one 

 week more, when the ground is dry, and the weather fair, they are 

 gathered up by cart loads and taken to the barn. Here they are 

 sorted and cleared of refuse leaves, and then they are in a condition 

 to be bunched or barreled. 



It should be remarked, that a large part of the labor of weeding., 

 gathering and sorting the onion, can be performed by children from 

 ten to sixteen years of age. Boys of this age, when properly in- 

 structed, will do about as much as men. They are more nimble and 

 can come at the Avork with greater facility. The sorting of the onion 

 is frequently done by girls as well as by boys. From three to jive 

 dollars a week, at one cent a basket, are usually earned by them 

 during the period of harvesting — which includes the months of Sep- 

 tember and October. After the crop is taken off, if the surface is 

 sloping, it is useful to plough furrows about one rod apart, to keep 

 the surface from washing. Unless this is done, all the herbage being 

 gone, much of the soil will be likely to be misplaced, by the melting 

 of snows and running of water in the Spring. 



The inquiry arises, whether the growth of the onion is limited to 

 soils of particular character, or whether it can be cultivated upon 

 any good soil, with proper attention. We know that there is a pop- 

 ular impression, that there are but few places in which the onion 

 can be cultivated advantageously. So far as our own observation has 

 extended, this impression is m a great measure erroneous. Like ev- 

 ery other plant, the onion grows best on very good soils, in very good 

 condition. But we have known very fair crops, on plain, light land, 



