EXPERIENCE OF PRACTICAL GROWERS. 



13 



If the planting of onions for seed has been neglect- onions, than to get a supply from seed stoies where 



ed, great care should to taken in procuring seed. It 

 is better to give a large price for seed from selected 



you know nothing about the quality of the onions 

 planted. 



No. VII. 



BY DAVID H. SHERWOOD, FAIRFIELD CO., CT. 



RAISING SEED. Most people are aware that the 

 great onion crop of the country is raised from the black 

 see-d. There has been a great change in the s-hape of 

 the onion within a few years. They were formerly 

 quite flat, but now the best are as far through from 

 the top to the root as the other way. Therefore select 

 the very best for seed, those that are as near round as 

 possible, solid and smooth. These should be kept 

 through the winter in a dry place, where the thermo- 

 meter will not fall below 20. 



As soon as the frost is out of the ground in the 

 spring, it should be well manured and ploughed deep. 

 Dig trenches three feet apart and five inches deep. 

 Set; your onions in the bottom of these drills about 

 six inches apart. As they grow up, fill the trenches 

 with dirt, and the stalks will not fall down, which is 

 apt to blast the seed. Keep clear from weeds until 

 they blossom, after which do not disturb them. 

 When the stalk below the seed-ball turns yellowish, 

 and the seed-husks begin to open, cut off the seed- 

 balls and spread them thinly on a tight floor, stirring 

 them once in three days ; or, what is better, spread 

 them on a lattice over a tight floor, as they will then 

 have the air around them, which is very essential, as 

 they are apt to mildew. They should remain in this 

 way for several weeks, until they will shell easy. 

 After the chaff is blown out, pour the seed into water ; 

 throw away that which floats, and dry the remainder 

 in the sun for three or four days ; after which put in 

 coarse bags, and hang where it will have plenty of air, 

 as I know of no seed that is more likely to chit than 

 onion-seed. 



PREPARATION OP THE GROUND for the reception of 

 the seed, is the next thing of importance. I have 

 seen good onions on reclaimed bog swamp, also on re- 

 claimed swamp with a clay sub-soil, but I think the 

 best ground for the purpose is a dry loam. It should 

 first be in hoed crops three or four years, and all 

 weeds kept from going to seed. Clear your ground 

 from all rubbish, stones, etc., in the fall, and, if pos- 

 sible, put on twenty loads, of fifty bushel each, of fine, 

 well-rotted manure to the acre, and plough it in before 

 winter. If thus treated in the fall, you can sow the 

 seed in the spring much earlier and easier than if 

 ploughed in the spring. But as many are apt to put 

 off until to-morrow what should be done to-day, I will 

 say, manure your ground in the spring as soon as it 

 is dry enough to work, ploughing it in at once, as fast 



as it can be harrowed, raked, and sowed, as it is apt 

 to become lumpy if allowed to lay in the sun after 

 ploughing. Never use a tooth-harrow, as it will draw 

 out the manure. I smooth the ground as follows: 

 Take a plank eight feet long, one foot wide, and three 

 inches thick. Through this, bore four holes, and insert 

 four sticks, four feet long and three inches square. On 

 the under-side of these sticks, fasten boards. The front 

 plank standing edgewise as it moves along, will level 

 the furrows, while the boards behind will smooth 

 them. "Wood ashes, at the rate of from one to two 

 hundred bushels to the acre, harrowed in, will pay 

 double their cost in most cases. After you have 

 leveled and smoothed your ground as much as con-- 

 venient with your team and leveler, use the hand- 

 rake, leaving the surface as fine and even as possible. 



In order to have your rows straight, draw a line 

 across the field. Draw the pi anting- machine by the 

 line. These machines for planting, which cost about five 

 dollars, plant two drills at a time, one foot apart, and 

 about half an inch deep. I use four pounds of seed 

 to the acre, and cover by drawing a hand-rake length- 

 wise over the drills. The usual time of sowing here 

 in the southern part of Connecticut, is from the first to 

 the fifteenth of April. A hand-roller drawn over the 

 ground after planting, will help the seed to germinate. 



About two weeks is required to bring up the seed, 

 and they should be hoed as soon as the rows can be 

 seen, which will generally be the latter part of May. 

 The most convenient hoe which I have seen for this 

 purpose, is eight inches long and one and a half wide, 

 inserted in a handle six feet long. Much depends 

 upon how the hoe stands, about its working easy. If 

 made right, the dirt will slide over it. After the weeds 

 that are cut up by the hoe, have had time to die, they 

 should be- gone over carefully one row at a time, cutting 

 and pulling every weed from the row. The most con- 

 venient way for doing this, is to crawl on your knees 

 with a small hoe in one hand, to cut where there is 

 room, and pull with the other hand. The hoe for this 

 purpose should be about three inches long, three 

 fourths of an inch wide, inserted in a handle eight 

 inches long. 



From this time they should be kept perfectly free 

 from weeds ; to do this, they will require going over 

 from three to five times, or once in two weeks ; but 

 as to this, there can be no rule given, as much depends 

 upon the soil, the kind of manure, weather, etc. 



