SECRETARY'S REPORT. 191 



it has never been a drug, but, on the contrar}', tlie price has 

 been continually rising. 



Dr. F. Unger, in his sketch of the plants used as food by 

 man, published in the Patent Office Report of 1859, says that, 

 " the onion is probably indigenous from Palestine to India, 

 whence it extended to China, Japan, Europe and North Africa. 

 It was highly prized by the ancient Greeks, the Jews, and the 

 Egyptians. The island Cimolus was endowed with the surname 

 of Onion, because onions of remarkable excellence were culti- 

 vated upon it." Unfortunately we have no means of knowing 

 what was the method of cultivation then, or whether it was to 

 this or some peculiarity of soil or climate that their superiority 

 was owing. Consequently in treating of its cultivation we 

 shall have to confine ourselves to the best practice of more recent 

 times. The first question that presents itself is, what is the 

 most desirable soil ? To this it may be replied that they admit 

 of considerable range in this respect. We have seen them 

 growing well, both as regards quantity and quality, the past 

 season, on a great variety of soils ; on newly cleared, light, 

 plain lands ; on the alluvial bottoms of the Connecticut River, 

 on "rather cold, clayey loam, and on old gardens. This in 

 Hampshire County, where their culture has recently been intro- 

 duced, and where the crop compares favorably with its old home 

 in Essex County. 



Writers on the subject, who are good authority, say that the 

 soil best suited to it is a dark sand, or one rather inclining to 

 sand than clay. Manure should be applied in great abundance, 

 as there seems to be little danger of over-feeding the crop, and 

 it is a point of great importance to give the plants a vigorous 

 start, as well to secure a healthy growth as to prevent the 

 attacks of the maggot. As a main dependence there is nothing 

 better than manure from the barnyard or hogpen, and if well 

 decomposed or composted, so much the better. In some parts 

 of Essex County, where comparatively little barnyard manure is 

 made, a compost of peat, seaweed, and night soil is used with 

 great success. As special fertilizers, fish guano, superphosphate, 

 and ashes are excellent, — the two latter to be applied to the 

 drills after sowing. 



Having soil and manure, the next important thing is good 

 seed. If the cultivator fails here his failure is likely to be 



