168 A HOME VEGETABLE-GARDEN 



For the main-season crop which provides for 

 the fall and the long winter supply, slower firmer 

 development is essential. Whether the variety is 

 the big white luscious Bermuda or the little every- 

 day brown garden onion, they are grown from 

 seed. With the quicker-growing southern varie- 

 ties, the seed may be sown in the hotbed and the 

 seedlings transplanted to the open ground when 

 the weather is warm enough. This furnishes the 

 northern-grown Spanish onions, ready for early 

 fall market. The northern varieties are merely 

 sown in the open garden where they are to mature. 



For onions the soil must be fine and free from 

 stones and the surface clear of clods and even and 

 smooth ; it should be made just as even and fine of 

 texture as far below the surface as the onions 

 go. The best onion soil is also naturally rich and 

 moist. Keep the surface from packing and do not 

 allow it to dry out and harden ; keep it open and 

 loose of texture. Provide plenty of fertilizer near 

 the surface where the onions forage most. 

 Quickly available fertilizer is not especially 

 needed, because the main crop of onions is a long- 

 season one, but it should be placed near at hand. 

 A dressing of wood-ashes to increase the supply 

 of potash and phosphoric acid will be an advan- 

 tage together with a little nitrogenous food to 

 start the delicate seedlings. 



The onion crop depends so much on the seed, 

 and this is so variable, that the greatest care is 



