162 



GLEANINGS [N BEE CULTURE. 



Feu. 15. 



The question may ^e asked: "How much seed 

 does it lalie lo plant an acre?" To this I would 

 reply, it depends entirely on the size of the seed. [ 

 have seen seed so small that it could be done with 15 

 bushels; and 1 liave planted iv so large that it would 

 require over 300. 1 should thinli the medium would 

 be, perhaps, about 7.5 bushels per acre. 



While 1 have known many failures in men trying 

 to raise onions, I know of no branch of farming that 

 will pay 'letter if the soil and all the conditions are 

 favoi'able, and a fair degree of industry, economy, 

 and intelligence is applied. 



MONEY IN ONIONS. 



Editor GIc<nii)Kjs: — I have noticed with much 

 inlerest youi- ellutts lo collect information in re- 

 gard to prolitable onion culture. This is a sub- 

 ject in which 1 have long been interested, hav- 

 ing been experimenting continuously for twen- 

 ty years. 1 am still learning; but being more 

 familiar with the road which leads to success 

 and profit than some of your readers, I will put 

 up a few finger-boards which, if followed, will 

 keep even a novice from going astray: 



First and most important is the strain of seed 

 used: for if the seed is not right it matters not 

 what kind of treatment follows; failure is cer- 

 tain. A good crop can not be grown from in- 

 ferior seed. 



Second, get them to growing just as early in 

 season as the weather will permit. No frosts 

 are liable to occur which will injure them after 

 the weather is warm enough to start them. 

 Every plant has its season, and it is hard to 

 make them grow successfully out of season un- 

 less placed under glass where the climate can 

 readily be changed and controlled. This is no- 

 ticeable in the case of our various garden- weeds. 

 They come along in crops in regular succession, 

 as the soil and climate become adapted to their 

 requirements; and it will be found about as dif- 

 ficult to make an onion-plant thrive in July, 

 August, and September, as it will to make purse- 

 ley grow in April. Onions will not develop late 

 in season after the weather becomes hot and 

 soil dry. With exactly the same seed, soil, and 

 care, I have known a delay of two weeks in 

 planting to cause almost a total failure in the 

 crop, while the first planted was a grand suc- 

 cess. I consider this fact one of the chief causes 

 of success by the " New Onion Culture " method 

 of sowing the seed under glass and transplant- 

 ing the plants, although special attention was 

 not called to the great Importance of getting 

 them started early, by the author of that sys- 

 tem, that I remember. If the plants are set in 

 the open ground as early as the soil can be 

 worked they are given a start which enables 

 them to form the bulbs in season, while the cli- 

 mate and soil are congenial to their fullest de- 

 velopment. In my opinion, nothing is gained 

 by this system if you wait until late in season 

 before sowing your seed and transplanting your 

 plants. 



Third. If you have been fortunate in secur- 

 ing a correct strain of seed, and have started 

 them in season, see that you keep the surface 

 of the soil continually broken or stirred, never 

 allowing it to remain crusted over, because the 

 plants will not make any headway while the 

 ground is in this condition, and in consequence 

 you are losing valuable time which can not be 

 made up, for, as above shown, one day now is 

 worth a week of time later on. 



Fourth. Keep the plot clean of weeds. Weeds 

 are natural enemies to your onion-plants. They 

 are thieves and robbei'S. They send their long- 

 er roots down and steal away the moisture 

 which is necessary to the development of the 

 onion. If very weedy, although they have an 

 early start they are but little the better for it, 

 as the weeds make th(^ bed as hard and dry and 

 uncongenial as it would be a month later, on 

 account of the change in season. 



Fifth. In cultivating and hoeing, never throw 

 the soil against the bulbs, but always away 

 from them. The large handsome bulbs always 

 grow on the ground, and not in it. 



Sixtlb. Never use stable manure or hen ma- 

 nure on the onion-plot just before putting out 

 the crop. If you do, the weed seeds you sow 

 with it will cause you more trouble and expense 

 than the manuring will benefit you. Better 

 take ground which was heavily manured the 

 previous season for some other crop, and then 

 depend upon commercial manures for starting 

 the onions. Sow these special fertilizers broad- 

 cast, and harrow them in. You can then make 

 a heavy application without danger of injuring 

 onion seeds or young sprouts. 



If you think the soil lacks fertility after the 

 crop is well started and past the stage of finger- 

 weeding, a compost of hen manure may be 

 sown broadcast over the surface, with excellent 

 results. The rains will then wash it in, and the 

 wheel-hoes will destroy the resulting weeds as 

 fast as they germinate. 



Now a vvord about varieties. For transplant- 

 ing by the Greiner method, nothing suits us 

 better than the true Prizeiaker; but we can not 

 depend upon the open market for the seed, and 

 steer clear of disappointment. We now have 

 it grown by private growers so we /enow what 

 we are using. J^or sowing in open ground by 

 the ordinary method, we think the true Yellow 

 Globe Dan vers is as good as any. In transplant- 

 ing we make the rows 12 inches apart, and set 

 the plants four inches apart in the row. One 

 acre will thus take 130.000 plants, and it is pos- 

 sible to make them average half a pound each, 

 which is over 1000 bushels, and at the time of 

 year at which they mature they should net the 

 grower a dollar a bushel. 



If we sow the seed where the crop is to grow, 

 by the usual method, we much prefer to keep 

 them in hills one foot apart each way. leaving 

 from six to ten plants in a hill. The hand work 

 in weeding is very much less than where the 

 plants are scattered in a continuous row. In 

 this manner small plots may readily be planted 

 by hand, marking the ground both ways with 

 lines 12 inches apart, and placing a pinch of 

 seed with the thumb and finger at each inter- 

 section. The Planet Jr. people have recently 

 placed a hill-dropping drill on the market, for 

 this purpose. It is really surprising to see what 

 a hill of onions will grow by this method, wedg- 

 ing and crowding themselves in until some are 

 actually raised several inches from the ground. 



This season we sowed about an acre thickly 

 in drills for the purpose of producing sets to 

 keep over for spring planting, but did not use 

 quite enough seed, consequently many of them 

 grew too large for gets, yet small for market 

 onions. These did not net us in market, late in 

 season, over 40 cts. per btishel, while large 

 bulbs, marketed a month earlier, readily 

 brought $1.10. This illustrates the difference 

 between good and poor management, and em- 

 phasizes the importance of our rule number 

 two, above stated. Isaac F. Tii-linghast. 



La PluTue, Pa., Jan. 1.5. 



[Thanks, friend T. I believe I can fully in- 

 dorse every point you make— that is, so far as 

 my experience goes with onions, unless it is 

 that I have not as yet had very much success 

 with commercial fertilizers.] 



CHIVES. 



Mr. Root: — I send you some chives by mail 

 to day. The Germans use them for borders 

 around beds in the garden, to hold the dirt. 

 They are very ornamental when in bloom, and 

 very mtich resemble a bed of pinks. They are 

 used with lettuce and in soups, about the same 

 as garlic, but are much milder in flavor. The 



