164 AMERICAN GARDENER. 



bushy sticks put to them ; and four or five of them 

 will bear a great quantity of pods. They will 

 grow in almost any ground; but, the better the 

 ground the fewer of them are necessary. 



238. ONION. This ,is one of the main vege- 

 tables. Its uses are many and they are all well 

 known. The modes of cultivation for a crop are 

 various. Three. I shall mention, and by either a 

 good crop may be raised. Sow in the fall (See 

 Paragraph 159,) or early in the Spring. Let the 

 ground be rich but not from fresh dung. Make 

 the ground very Jine ; make the rows a foot a part 

 and scatter the seed thinly along a drill two inches 

 deep. Then fill in the drills ; and then press the 

 earth down upon the seed by treading the ground 

 all over. Then give the ground a -very slight 

 smoothing over with a rake. When the plants 

 get to be three inches high, thin them to four 

 inches, or to eight inches if you wish to have very- 

 large onions. Keep the ground clear of weeds by 

 hoeing ; but do, not hoe deefi, nor raise earth about 

 the plants; for these make them run to neck and 

 not to bulk. When the tips of the leaves begin 

 to be brown, bend down the necks, so that the 

 leaves lie flat with the ground. When the leaves 

 are nearly dead, pull up the onions, and lay them 

 to dry, in order to be put away for winter use. 

 Some persons, instead of sowing the onions all 

 along the drill, drop four or five seeds at every 

 six or seven inches distance ; and leave the onions 

 to grow thus, in clumps ; and this is not a bad 

 way ; for, they will squeeze each other out. They 

 will not be large ; but, they will be ripe earlier , 

 and will not run to neck. The third mode of cul- 

 tivation is as follows: sow the onions anv time 



