32 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



onion seed on the market which is not good and soaking will have 

 little effect upon it. Your onions should grow without withering away, 

 if you succeed in getting a start with the plant. Dying is generally 

 due to lack of moisture in a light sandy soil, or sometimes too much 

 water if the soil is inclined to be heavy and sticky. 



Transplanting Onions. 



Following instructions given in "California Vegetables," I sowed 

 onion seed thickly in a bed about the first of September, to transplant 

 them in February. However, the plants are already the required six or 

 eight inches in height and are beginning to be badly crowded. I expect to 

 transplant them in the Feather River bottom in a rather light, sandy 

 soil. Will it do to transplant them now? 



Transplant whenever you get a few days of moist air that is, 

 not in dry wind. If your land is not subject to overflow you ought to 

 get a good early crop, for the light soil will take care of the rain 

 easily and the crop will stand considerable freezing weather. 



Requirements of Onion Growing. 



What variety of onion is best for commercial production in Cali- 

 fornia; are onions adapted to early spring planting in an adobe soil 

 containing some humus and a trace of sand and -fitted for irrigation if 

 necessary, and is it possible for one industrious man to care for two 

 acres without extra help except for emergencies? 



Onions are successful on a strong, retentive loam, which is prob- 

 ably what you describe as "adobe with some humus and sand." Onions 

 will grow, but they are harder to handle on a hard, cracking adobe. 

 The onions chiefly grown are Red Wethersfield for early and Yellow 

 Danvers for main crop. Growing the seedlings on a sandy seed bed 

 and transplanting when fhree or four inches high is the best way to 

 get a good stand and escape a lot of labor in weeding. A man can 

 handle two acres well enough if he knows how to make his head save 

 his back in planting and cultivation. 



Growing Garlic. 



/ have thought of planting garlic on gravelly loam. When is the 

 proper time to plant and harvest it? Should it be handled like onions? 



During the war garlic rose to 10 cents a pound wholesale in sacks. 

 It is usually 3 to 4^4 cents. Garlic is not grown from seed, for the 

 plant seldom flowers or grows seed. It is propagated by separating the 

 "cloves" or bulblets which compose the cluster and which are held to- 

 gether by the silvery skin. Tear the cluster apart and plant the parts 

 of it separately just as you would onion sets. This can be done at any 

 time from fall to spring in this climate, providing the soil is not cold 

 and water soaked. Set in October in properly moist soil, it gives you 



