THE PREPARATIONS. 17 



frequent dressings of manure and the washes from the barn- 

 yard. This, with the help of liberal manuring, would 

 prove to be a fine spot whereon to locate an onion patch. If 

 it happens to be in sod, and the sod so old and tough that 

 it is not likely to break up and give the needed smooth, 

 mellow seed bed early enough in spring, it should be 

 broken the year before, either in spring or at least by early 

 autumn. If so treated, it will be all right. 



The fields of stiff clay, as we find them on many farms, 

 are often insufficiently drained, and usually lacking in 

 organic (vegetable) matter such as is supplied by applica- 

 tions of stable manure or by turning under clover and 

 other green crops. They are almost always lumpy in spring, 

 liable to crack in the hot season, and therefore unsuitable 

 for our purposes. Otherwise, well-drained clay loams, if 

 only rich enough, often give good yields. 



Sandy muck is perhaps an ideal soil for onion growing, 

 especially if it can be arranged for sub-irrigation, as ex- 

 plained later on. Even muck with next to no sand in its 

 make-up is largely used, and can be made to produce good 

 crops. But it must have thorough under-drainage and be 

 freed from all obstructions and rubbish. If such muck 

 soil is almost free from sand, and consequently inclined to 

 be moister than desirable, there is some danger that a 

 large portion of the plants will form thick necks, producing 

 ''scallions" or ^' romps ;"^ and even the well-formed and 

 well-cured bulbs will be lacking the solidity and specific 

 gravity of those grown on clay or sandy loams. An 

 additional disadvantage of many of these mucky onion 

 grounds is their liability to being washed over or flooded 

 in times of heavy rains, to the great injury of the growing 

 crop. 



The deep, rich, clean, well-drained brown loams of our 

 river bottoms are usually admirably adapted for onion- 



