the larger part of the growing season. 



266 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



Cultivation. — Usually the young plants will begin to 

 appear above ground inside of two weeks, and now an energetic 

 and unceasing fight against weeds begins, which lasts all through 



Use the wheel-hoe early 

 and often, and never 

 attempt to do without one 

 of these tools in the onion 

 patch, as this would 

 almost exclude any possi- 

 bility of making it pay. 

 The weeding has to be 

 done on hands and knees, 

 early and often enough to 

 suppress all weed growth. 

 One of the hand-weeders, 

 a common table knife with 

 blade sharpened on both 

 sides and bent in a curve, 

 or a common iron spoon, 

 can be used to advantage 

 in scraping away the soil 

 from the growing plants, 

 and with it all weeds just 

 starting in the row. Never 

 draw the soil up to the 



onions, as they grow best 

 on top of the ground. A 

 second top-dressing of fer- 

 tilizer, or of wood-ashes, at 

 the time when the bulbs 

 have made about half their 

 growth, often has the happi- 

 est effects. Still I consider 

 repeated applications of 

 nitrate of soda, say at the 

 rate of 100 pounds per acre 

 each time, of more conse- 

 quence than any other 

 top-dressing I know of. 

 Early attention should be 

 directed to the proper 

 thinning. At the second 



weeding the plants must be left to stand not less than 2 mches 

 apart in the rows. Remove the weaker — always leave the 

 strongest plants. In subsequent weedings a narrow-bladed hoe 

 may be used, thus allowing the work to be done in a standing 

 position. 



Prizetaker. 



