THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 21$ 



doubled in value as well as bulk by being com- 

 posted with sods, leaves, etc., and then, after hav- 

 ing been mixed, allowed to decay thoroughly. 

 Then the compost can be used with great advan- 

 tage as a top-dressing directly over the drills when 

 either sets or seeds are planted. The spring rains 

 will carry the richness from the surface to the 

 roots, and insure a very vigorous growth. When 

 the compost named in the early part of this paper 

 is used, I sow it thickly in the drill, draw a pointed 

 hoe through once more, to mingle the fertilizer with 

 the soil, and then forthwith sow the seeds or put 

 in the sets one inch deep ; and the result is imme- 

 diate and vigorous growth. Wood-ashes and bone- 

 dust are excellent fertilizers, and should be sown 

 on the surface on the row as soon as planted, and 

 gradually worked in by weeding and cultivation 

 during the growing season. Manure from the pig- 

 sty, wherein weeds, litter, sods, muck, etc., have 

 been thrown freely during the summer, may be 

 spread broadcast over the onion bed in the au- 

 tumn, and worked in deeply, like the product of 

 the barnyard. The onion bed can scarcely be 

 made too rich as long as the manure is not ap- 

 plied in its crude, unfermented state at the time of 

 planting. Then, if the seed is put in very early, 

 it grows too strongly and quickly for insects to 

 do much damage. 



