Watering Plants in Winter 



IN watering house and window plants 

 only the best water should be used. 

 Tepid water at a temperature of about 

 50 degrees gives best results. Pure 

 fresh rain water is most desir&ble for the 

 purpose, and in no case should water 

 from a dirty cistern be used. If water 

 from a spring or well must be used, it 

 should be allowed to stand in a tub or 

 pail a day or two. 



Avoid using ice cold water. Mix 



"Wm. Hunt. O.A.C., GuelpK 



some warm water with the cold so as to 

 make it lukewarm. Sprinkle the foliage 

 of plants only on warm sunny days. 

 Rex begonias and similar rough or hairy 

 leaved plants should not have their 

 foliage sprinkled at all in winter. 



Palms, dracaenas or cordylines, Ficus 

 or rubber plants, Farfugium or leopard 

 plant, English ivy, aspidistras, and 

 similar glabrous or glossy leaved plants 

 should have the leaves sponged with 



clear water once a week. A little com- 

 mon soap, or, better still, a little fir 

 tree oil mixed with the water will im- 

 prove the appearance of these plants and 

 help to keep down scale and other pests. 

 The fir tree oil must be strongly dilut- 

 ed as directed on the bottle, as it is sure 

 to injure the plants if very strong. 

 Avoid using chemically prepared soaps 

 and similar preparations, as they are 

 dangerous and often fatal to plant life 



Onion Culture for Profit" 



FOR profitable onion growing, select 

 a soil containing rather more sand 

 than clay, clean and free from 

 stones and other obstructions to cul- 

 tivation. The location should be cool 

 and damp, yet free from stagnant 

 water either above or below the surfa e 



We will assume that the soil is in 

 good tilth, having had clean cultivation 

 and been well manured for some years 

 previous. An attempt to grow onions 

 for profit would be useless unless soil 

 in that shape were available for the 

 purpose. Start operations in the fall 

 by applying a good dressing of stable 

 manure, say 40 or 50 tons an acre, and 

 plow it under. Let it freeze up for 

 the winter without harrowing. 



In spring, as soon as the soil is dry 

 enough to work, go over it with a 

 spring-toothed cultivator or disk har- 

 row; thoroughly stir and pulverize it 

 to get the manure well incorporated 

 with the soil. Harrow as fine as pos- 

 sible, and if the soil be dry enough, 

 finish with a planker. Then drill in 

 the seed. 



At this point there is an important 

 question to decide. Where land is 

 cheap and labor scarce, some growers 

 adopt the plan of throwing the soil up 

 in light ridges about 24 inches apart, 

 sowing the seed on those ridges and 

 cultivating with a horse. For market 

 gardening in close proximity to large 

 cities where land is expensive, in a 

 high state of cultivation, and rich from 

 many years of heavy manuring, I con- 

 sider that method wasteful of the land. 

 I prefer to get the soil as fine and level 

 as possible, and then drill in the seed 

 in rows as straight as may be done 

 and about 15 inches apart, using about 

 6 pounds of seed to the acre, and then 

 cultivate with a wheel hoe. 



The selection of varieties is a matter 

 that may be affected by local market' 



*The essay on onions that won first prize in 

 the Ontario Vegetable Growers' Association's 

 competition. 



T. Del-wortH, AATeston, Ontario 



conditions. In Toronto, an onion is 

 wanted with a bright, yellow skin and 

 white flesh. In some cities a fair de- 

 mand exists for red onions, but there 

 is little or no demand for them in' To- 

 ronto. Onion growers practically are 

 unanimous in the opinion that, as long 

 as seedsmen will give them a good 

 strain of seed of Yellow Globe Dan- 

 vers, they are getting the best onion 

 on the market for ordinary domestic 

 use. 



CULTIVATION 



As soon as the seed is up so that the 

 rows mav be seen, start the wheel hoe. 



White Globe Cnions 



Use the flat cutting blades and keep 

 them sharp. Cultivate shallow and 

 frequently. Follow with hand-weeders 

 and clean out the rows. For this work 

 I prefer a weeder that we make our- 

 selves out of a table knife, heated and 

 bent round and sharpened on both 

 edges. Don't allow the weeds to get 

 large. A few days' smothering at this 

 stage will do the crop irreparable 

 damage. 



Should thinning be necessary, do it 

 with the weeding knife while they are 

 small. Onions do not take kindly to 

 being loosened at the roots in warm 

 weather. It stunts their growth. Keep 

 the wheel hfte going till the onion tops 



303 



get so large that you can't get through 

 them. Then use a flat or Dutch hoe, and 

 be careful not to cut the onions. Culti- 

 vate often and very shallow. Keep 

 the hoe sharp and barely skim the sur- 

 face. 



DISEASES AND INSECT PESTS 



The onion crop has at least two ene- 

 mies that are sometimes very destruc- 

 tive. The first is the Root Maggot. 

 This insect usually does its work in 

 the month of June or early part of July. 

 Various methods of combatting it have 

 been suggested, but so far no practical 

 and reUable remedy has been found. 

 It is usually worse in light soils. Its 

 method of injuring the crop is too well 

 known to need description. 



The other trouble is known as Onion 

 Bhght. It is a fungous disease that ap- 

 pears usually in August when the 

 onions are about half grown. It shows 

 as patches of grayish-white mildew or 

 mould on the foliage. The foliage turns 

 black and dies where the blight appears. 

 The disease spreads rapidly, a few days 

 being enough to turn a mass of healthy 

 fohage into a few dried and blackened 

 tufts. Spraying with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture has been tried without much 

 success. The writer made a few ex- 

 periments last summer with dry air- 

 slacked lime and sulphur (1 oz. sulphur 

 and 5 or 6 oz. Ume) dusted over the 

 onions while wet with dew. The re- 

 sults were encouraging but not con- 

 clusive. Next year the experiment will 

 be repeated. 



HARVESTING 



As soon as the onions begin to ripen, 

 pull them at once. The time may be 

 determined by pulling a few. When 

 an onion completes its growth, the 

 roots begin to die and they lose their 

 hold on the ground. The onions pull 

 easily. Onions becomes spoilt for keep- 

 ing if not harvested promptly. Pull and 

 lay in windrows. Turn several times in 

 the sun until dried. Then, if wanted 



