268 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



The New Onion Culture. — No recent innovation in hor- 

 ticultural practices has created such a stir among American 

 gardeners as has been caused by the new method which I in- 

 troduced under the name of " the 

 new onion culture" in 1890-91. 

 The idea of transplanting onions is 

 not new; but it had never been 

 systematically applied to practice in 

 growing dry onions in America. 

 The new method is of especial value 

 in growing the large varieties of 

 foreign origin, chief among them the 

 Yellow Spanish or Prizetaker. In- 

 deed it is so superior to the older 



^ method of growing the crop directly 



Extra Early Red. f^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^^ I ^^^ „^^„^ ^^^^^ 



growers now practice the former to the almost entire exclusion 

 of the other, resorting to the latter only in the production of 

 sets and pickling onions. 



By far the best variety for the " new onion culture," and 

 almost the only one which I grow, is the Prizetaker, already 

 mentioned. Seed is sown under glass, preferably in flats in the 

 greenhouse, during February (perhaps earlier, even in the fall in 

 more southern locations). An early hotbed will do here ; a cold 

 frame perhaps further south. Broadcast sowing gives the largest 

 number of plants to a given space. By sowing j^ to ^ of 

 an ounce of seed evenly over one square foot of space, we go 

 about to the limit of allowable crowding. The tops will need to 

 be sheared off once or oftener, to make the plants short and 

 stocky. The transplanting should be done just as soon as the 

 land can be gotten in best working order in spring. Earliness 

 and promptness in this work largely determine the measure of 

 success. 



Make the land very rich. Have the surface very smooth. 

 Then draw light straight marks one foot apart, and with the 

 help of a dibber, or with he finger set the plants two to three 

 inches apart in the rows. The professional gardener, used to 

 such work, will do this quite rapidly, and perhaps be able to set 

 5000 and more plants in a day. 



It should hardly be necessary to say much about the neces- 

 sity of keeping the ground well cultivated and scrupulously 

 clean from weeds. The Planet Jr. double wheel hoe, and a nar- 

 row-bladed hand hoe, are just the tools that will render ma- 

 terial assistance in this task, and if they are used promptly, the 

 weeds will have very little chance to become troublesome. One 

 great advantage of the new method, indeed, is the small amount 

 of hand labor required in caring for the crop after transplanting. 



