60 ONIONS FOR PROFIT. 



longer. Yet weed growth will not stop. The small weeds 

 are not apt to give much trouble at that time, but the 

 coarser kinds, and those favored by hot weather, like purs- 

 lane, will now try to take possession of the ground. Purs- 

 lane in these rich grounds grows rapidly, and may com- 

 pletely hide the soil before you are hardly aware of it. This 

 is the time for fighting weeds with hand hoes. Just walk 

 through the onions carefully backward and draw the hoe 

 along over the ground between the rows, cutting off the 

 weeds or pulling them out. Purslane should, if possible, 

 be gathered up and taken out of the patch. By all means, 

 keep the ground clean. 



Rolling Down the Tops. 

 I have never seen any good resulting from the practice 

 of breaking down the tops of onions for the sake of hasten- 

 ing their ripening. Well-grown onions will ripen up all 

 right in due season, and if some specimens, owing to mis- 

 management, or for reasons of their own, are bound to 

 make scallions, they will do so, even if you roll down the 

 tops. 



