EXPERIENCE OF PRACTICAL GROWERS. 



19 



process. In either case it should be most carefully 

 and regularly done, and on a still day, or the wind will 

 scatter it beyond the drills. The straighter and nar- 

 rower the seed is sown in the drills, the narrower will 

 be the space left to weed after hoeing. Radishes or 

 some quick-growing seed may be sowed thinly, one or 

 two a^eds to a foot, to direct in hoeing the first time, 

 as the onion tops are so fine they can scarcely be seen, 

 excepting when the dew is on. The radishes may be 

 suffered to grow, and be gathered for market. 



HOEING. The first hoeing should be commenced 

 when the rows can first be distinguished, with a hoe 

 eight inches long, made by cutting off the back of an 

 old grass-scythe, flattening the blade, and punching a 

 small hole within three fourths of an inch from each 

 end, without heating it, to which a forked brace with 

 goose-necks must be riveted through the goose-heads, 

 to attach it to a light, long handle, usually that of a 

 hay-rake. The beveled edge of the plate should be 

 down, and the heads of the rivets sunk. "With this 

 hoe proceed to scrape once in the middle between the 

 rows, with a reach of two feet or more, barely shaving 

 off the weeds without breaking through the crust, 

 carrying along one or more spaces. Keep the hoe in 

 good order by rubbing on a flat stone, or grinding, and 

 if it clogs, which it will do on new-ploughed ground 

 for two or three years from the sod, push it along on 

 the ground as you step forward, or clean with a stick. 

 The same process, which is light work, and quickly 

 done, may be repeated with advantage within a week, 

 but in a fortnight from first hoeing, or less, according 

 to the size of the weeds, hoe again, only breaking up 

 the crust, say about half an inch deep, loosening but 

 not moving the earth out of place, in the middle of the 

 spaces as before, or, which is better, with two strokes, 

 one close to each row, making nearly a double hoeing, 

 which, if the rows can be distinctly or readily seen, is 

 the best manner for the first hoeing. 



WEEDING. The weeders, upon their hands and knees, 

 should follow close upon the last hoeing, with onion- 

 weeders, made from table knives by breaking off the 

 blades to two or two and a half inches from the han- 

 dles, and heating the end to bend it a little to one side, 

 so as to fit it to the curve of the thumb, and cooling it 

 immediately, to return its temper. The back should 

 then be ground to an edge, and the corners rounded, 

 so as to work it in either hand. The weeds should be 

 cut off below the crowns of their roots, say half an 

 inch under ground, or, which is better, loosen the 

 ground two inches deep on each side of the row, by 

 drawing the knife or weeder, thrust into the ground to 

 the handle, and turned a little sideways in the hand, 

 at a steep angle towards and on one side of the row, 

 and two inches from it, and then by changing hands, 

 on the other, when, if properly done, the ground will 

 be loosened, so that the weeds can easily be scraped or 

 nulled out with their roots, and then the earth should 

 Oe pressed back upon the roots of the onions by the 



palms of the hands, to hold them firm, and to prevent 

 withering if they have been injured. The weeds will 

 cause much more injury to the crop if not eradicated, 

 than they will suffer from cutting off the onion-roots 

 two inches under ground, which is not necessary, and 

 should be avoided, but may occasionally happen. 



In two weeks or less they will require another hoe 

 ing and weeding similar to the last, and a fortnight 

 after, hoeing again, if not weeding. There should be 

 no hilling or hauling away of dirt, but the surface 

 should be kept level. 



GATHERING. When the tops die and fall', the crop 

 should be pulled and spread evenly over the ground to 

 dry or cure. The scallions (thick-necked or green 

 onions) with the weeds, if any, should be thrown into 

 heaps or carried off. After three or four days' drying, 

 turn them over carefully with the teeth of a wooden 

 rake, without bruising, and let them dry as many days 

 more; or instead, as they preserve a brighter color, 

 put them into heaps of two to four bushels, to sweat a 

 few days, when, if intended for early market, cut the 

 dead tops off one inch from the bulbs, and barrel to 

 send away; but if wished for storing, they may bo 

 left in heaps some weeks, or carried under cover on a 

 floor with the tops on, and piled around the sides of a 

 barn floor, three feet high, or put into bins with slats 

 on the sides, and not close, like open horse- stalls, fill- 

 ing every other one, and putting strips of boards across 

 the ends and through them, or slanting them up so as 

 'not to need supports, and leave all the doors open. 

 After a week or ten days' drying as above, put them 

 under cover in any airy place, as a shed, but watch 

 and examine every few days to see if they are gather- 

 ing moisture, heating and growing; if so, open and 

 spread to dry again. 



STORING FOE WINTER. If the onions are to be 

 kept upon a barn or other floor, pile them one foot and 

 a half or two feet deep, leaving a space of one to two 

 feet all around. Cover them with one thickness of 

 sheets to keep out hay-seed, chaff, etc., and when hard 

 freezing weather sets in, cover one to two feet deep 

 with hay, straw, or any similar substance, filling all 

 the spaces around the heap. Do not disturb them if 

 frozen, until the frost is out, which may be hastened by 

 opening the doors and removing a portion of the cov- 

 ering each day for a week. 



A wagon or wood-house tightly boarded, floored, 

 and fitted up with a bin or bins as follows, is undoubt- 

 edly the best place, and such as one of our oldest 

 onion-cultivators, after long and sad experience, has 

 adopted and used for some years with perfect success. 

 Set up scantlings for a stall or bin, of three to five 

 feet wide ; on these nail two or three tiers of ten-inch 

 boards two or three inches apart, and as far above the 

 floor, leaving a wide space, two to four feet at each 

 end, to pass round, and for free circulation of air. Thee 

 place every three to four, feet, before the onions fill up, 

 on each board, cross-boards eight or ten inches wide. 



