246 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. ]5. 



small that the greater part of the crop was only 

 sets instead of onions. By taking a great deal 

 of pains in cnring and sorting, he managed to 

 get several bushels of very good sets, and quite 

 a good many that were too large for sets; and, 

 if I am correct, a good many more that did not 

 make sets or onions either— in fact, they did not 

 produce a ripened bulb at all— only some thick- 

 necl<ed half-grown onions that might have been 

 used for bunching and nothing else. To get 

 nice sets you want poor ground or dry weather. 

 You may remember a correspondent in (Clean- 

 ings said they always raised their sets near 

 large trees. The roots of the trees carried off 

 the moisture and fertility so that the onions 

 were obliged to make little bulbs. On good rich 

 ground, with plenty of water, when onions are 

 of the proper size for sets, they make thick 

 necks, for they have not yet commenced to makti 

 bulbs; and if they were pulled and cured at 

 this stage, you see they would not be just what 

 is wanted for sets in the market. 



SOMETHING FURTHEK IN REGARD TO ONION CUL- 

 TURE, CLEA^R FROM " MERRIE ENGI>AND." 



Mr. Root: — That time when you had a bed of 

 onions, one end of which was nice and soft and 

 rich, the other stiff and hard, the hard end did 

 not please you at all, yet the onions did best 

 there. I thought you knew how to grow onions; 

 but from later articles in Gleanings I see you 

 have not taken the hint. Try this plan: Ma- 

 nure the bed with good heavy cow or pig ma- 

 nure (horse manure is too light); keep the ma- 

 nure near the surface; tread all over the bed, 

 and make it solid and firm. If your onion- 

 plants have been raised in heat, see that they 

 are properly liardened off. Plant with a trowel ; 

 with the point of the trowel scrape away the 

 soil about an inch deep. Spread the roots; put 

 back the soil; press firm; scrape some soil up 

 around the plant in a little heap. When you 

 cultivate among them this will come away and 

 leave the onion standing on the surface. Top 

 dress in your usual way. Deep loose planting 

 will make good seed grow thick necks. 



Greenlaw, Eng., Jan. 1. Robert Douglas. 



turnips. 



We have had some experience during the past 

 few years in the matter of growing turnips as a 

 market gaiden crop, and therefore can not re- 

 frain from giving to the public something of 

 the impressions and opinions formed thereby. 

 We have found an excellent demand for really 

 good sweet-liavored turnips, in neighboring 

 towns and cities; and we now do not have much 

 trouble in producing good crops. Formerly we 

 practiced to some extent broadcast seeding, but 

 have turned over an entirely new leaf in that 

 respect. Under that plan the plants come up 

 by the scores where we want but a single one; 

 and the operation of thinning them properly is 

 too long and tedious to be thoroughljf perform- 

 ed; hence the natural result is, we have many 

 weak and spindling plants with few good roots. 

 On the other iiand. by drilling the seed in rows 

 two and a half to thrtse feet apart, good culture 

 may be given from tlie beginning, with horse- 

 cultivator. Thinning to from 4 to 1:.* inches 

 apart in the row (according to variety of turnip) 

 is a comparatively simple and easy operation 

 that can be largely effected by the dextrous use 

 of A three cornei'ed hoe. 



It is advisable to sow seed of both the small 

 round straij leaf turnip and the rutabaga also. 

 In this way we have something to suit the va- 

 rious tastes and caprices of different customers 

 — some preferring one, some the other. Of 

 course, the rutabaga varieties must be sown 

 much earlier than the smaller kinds. For them 



the middle of June or early in Ju)y is the tim( 

 to put in the seed; whereas the strap-leaf tur 

 nip may be sown as a second crop any time dur 

 ing the first half of August. For this reasoi 

 we think the smaller varieties are the mor< 

 profitable, since they grow very rapidly, are lit 

 tie trouble, and occupy land that otherwisi 

 must needs lie vacant and run up to weeds t( 

 bother the cultivator next season with thei: 

 many seeds. 



Fresh manures are not good for turnips, a; 

 they favor scab and worms. Better use ashe 

 or fertilizers, or have the manure applied sever 

 al months before sowing turnips, that its rani 

 character may become dissipated. Probabl; 

 new sod land gives the smoothest, handsomes 

 roots. The great beauty with turnips is that 

 what the market does not want, domestic ani 

 mals of all classes do desire and thrive wonder 

 fully upon. There is no root more general!; 

 useful for stock-feeding than the turnip. 



Danvers, Mass., Jan. 15. M. S. Perkins. 



[I heartily agree with the above, although 

 did not think particularly about it until I re 

 membered that a good many of our turnip 

 have been coarse and sometimes hollow, througl 

 the effect of excessive stable manure used oi 

 our grounds. During the past season we sowec 

 turnip^J on a clover sod after some early crop 

 were taken off. No manure of any kind wa 

 used except the clover turned under. While th 

 turnips did not grow as large as usual, they ar 

 nearly all right for table use; and they ar 

 sweeter and richer than we have had for a goo 

 many years. Terry, you know, thinks we gp 

 better-shaped and better-flavored strawberrie 

 on clover sod than where such excessive quan 

 titles of manure are used. Another thin|c 

 these turnips have stood severe freezing weath 

 er much better than those of such rank rapi 

 growth. 



W. I. CHAMBERI.AIN AND HIS VEGETABLE-GARDEN 



Does it pay to have a garden ? The followin 

 from the Ohio Farmer is from the man wh 

 wrote our book on tile drainage that is havin 

 such a wonderful sale just now. It is writte 

 in his usual happy style, and comes in quit 

 seasonably: 



The gTeat advantage, too. Is that these tlilng-s ai 

 so (jlieaply and so easily raised. Six extra early lie 

 liouse tomato-plants cost me 2.5 cents. Their fru 

 ripened early in July, while southern-grown torn; 

 toes were si ill selling at the gioceries at 25 cent 

 per pound— a costly luxury. The six vines bore 

 great abundance for our little family, averagin 

 three members. They lasted until the middle c 

 November, brought in green and nearly full-grow 

 at the first heavy frost, and ripened in the lioiist 

 One of the six vines, "Atlantic Prize," set where th 

 "chip yard" had been for years, was the larger 

 vine I ever saw. I " let it run " as the boy did th 

 molasses, and it finally grew over 13 feet long an 

 over 6 ft. wide: covering cjnite densely an irregula 

 oval space indicated by these dimensions. It mus 

 have borne two or tin-ee bushels, ii])eniiig all alon 

 for about three niontlis. The bushels of toraatoe 

 we ale cost us 25 cents for the extra early and extr 

 thrifty vines, and almost nothing for their care an 

 picliing. It was a grand year for them. Hubbar' 

 siiiiashes, planted along tlie tile ditch that convey 

 tlie kiti ■hen-slops far from the house, cost us 10 cent 

 for Seed, a little care and road dust to clean out th 

 striped liugs. and yielded far more than we can ea 

 in tlie si.v or seven montlis that we can use them 

 If we choose we can save more than 500 times a 

 much seed as we bought— pure Hubbards of fines 

 quality. The celery cost $1.00 for 200 strong, thrift; 

 plants, and proljatily as much more for work— grow 

 ing, digging, and packing, roots and all. standinj 

 in s'lnd in "Root's liushel boxes" in the cellai 

 Thus we have it crisp and fresh, right at hjuid al 

 the fall and winter. The beets are packed In sari( 

 too, the smoothest and tenderest being selected 

 The parsnips are dug as we want them, and firs 

 boiled and then halved lengthwise and fried hrowi 



