ONION CULTURE. 



PRIZE ESSAYS. 



EXPLANATION. 



fTHE following articles were written in response to a PREMIUM offered by the Editor of the Ameriam 

 Agriculturist (New- York,) " for the best pte practical directions on raising onions; to be written by an <a 

 priest OnL AUNT; not to exceed twelve pages of manuscript; to embrace the ^various items, from he 

 selection of theseed to marketing the crop-all written out so plainly as to be usefnl to those who have had ,ttle 

 or no experience in the cultivation of this crop." An unexpectedly large number of good art.cles i on tin. 

 subject were received from various parts of the country, all of which contain more or less of valuable h,nt 

 and suggestions, which will be generally useful. As room for but one or two only could be j 

 jjMM* the Editor conceived he would be doing good service to cultivators at large by select.ng th 

 Xing es^ys, and publishing them in this convenient form-a suitable consideration havmg been offered 

 'o the several witer" and their individual consent obtained. With slight verbal corrections the several 

 articles are inserted here just as written. They follow each other about in the order received, w,th, 

 to particular value.] 



No. I. 



[THE writer of the following has, we believe, had an experience of some thirty years in growing onion, 

 for market, ED.] 



BY WM. J. JENNINGS, OF WESTPORT, CT. 



SELECTION OF GROUND. A. deep loamy soil is con- 

 sidered the best for onions, though they will grow on 

 soil a large proportion of which is clay. A light 

 porous soil with a gravelly subsoil should be avoided. 

 The surface of the ground should be nearly level, as 

 hilly ground is liable to wash from heavy rains. In 

 selecting a piece of ground for onions, there are sev- 

 eral things that should be considered. 



1st Ground that is stony should be avoided, unless 

 the cost of removing the stones is first considered. 



2d. Ground that is overrun by weeds and trouble- 

 some grasses, should not be chosen until they are first 

 subdued. 



3d. Ground that is shaded will not do ; neither that 

 which is too wet to be worked early in the spring. 



Having attended to the foregoing hints, it is also 

 important to select with reference to cultivating the 

 same ground for onions for an indefinite length of time, 

 for in so doing, the labor of first preparation is avoided ; 

 oesides, each succeeding crop is more easily cultivated, 

 provided the previous work has been thoroughly done. 



PREPARATION OP GROUND FOR SOWING. Havmg 

 made a suitable selection of ground, the next thing to 

 be considered is its preparation. First gather out the 

 stones pretty thoroughly putting the largest ones into 

 fences, the middling-sized ones into blind ditches, and 

 the smallest ones into the mud-holes of the roads. In 

 this way some good is done. Above all, avoid the 

 heathenish practice of emptying them by the road- 

 side, not only disfiguring the roads, but giving a har- 

 bor for briers, elders, and the ten thousand noxious 

 weeds that now infest such places. In the next place 

 give the ground a heavy coat of the best manure. 

 Hog- pen is the best home-made manure; next, stable, 

 if not too coarse ; next, common barnyard, well rotted. 

 As to the quantity of manure on an acre, that must 

 be determined in part by the condition of the soil. 

 From twenty to thirty loads of forty bushels per load, 

 make a very good coat to begin with. After this is 

 deeply ploughed in, a top dressing of wood ashes say 

 150 or 200 bushels to the acre, may be given, or from 

 300 to 500 Ibs. of guano, or bones ground or sawed 



