1 86 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



The Onion: Its Origin, Value as 

 Food, and Cultivation. 



\ Abstract of paper by J. J. H. Gregory, before the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society. ^ 



Botanically the Onion belongs to the Lily 

 family. All the leaves begin- at the bulb, 

 and it makes its greatest growth while the 

 leaves are dying down, which seems to con- 

 firm the popular saying among farmers that 

 " top has gone into the bottom." The native 

 home of the Onion is Asia. The Israelites 

 after leaving Egypt remembered vrith long- 

 ing the Onions and other vegetables which 

 they ate there. 



As an article of diet the Onion is generally 

 looked upon here merely as a relish, whereas it 

 is really a nourishing food. In the \Vest the 

 speaker had seen miners making their dinner of 

 half bread and half Onions. Their unpleasant 

 effects on the eyes while peeling may be avoided 

 by holding them under water. The peculiar 

 flavor of the Onion is due to a volatile oil, and 

 consequently to be in perfection it should be 

 eaten as soon as it is taken out of the ground. 

 Their fine flavor is even more volatile than that 

 of Green Peas or Sweet Corn. 



Kinds, There are two distinct classes of 

 Onions— those which do, and those which do not 

 produce flowers. In the latter class are the 

 Potato or "multiplying" Onion and the Shallot, 

 which, as we all know, are propagated by what 

 are commonly called " sets," botanically offsets, 

 though occasionally the Shallot will make a show 

 of seed. The Shallot is the longest keeper of all 

 the Onion family; sometimes it will keep for two 

 years, and therefore it Alls a place of its own. 

 They are sometimes sold in the market as Potato- 

 Onion sets. There are several varieties of Shallot 



Top Onions, Potato Onions, Rareripes,Egyptian 

 Onion, Onion sets and annual Onions, or, as the 

 last are termed in the South, "black seed" 

 Onions, to distinguish them from those raised 

 from sets, include all that market farmers and 

 gardeners handle, with the exception of Chives, 

 a species which makes but a suggestion of a bulb, 

 the green tops cut for salad being the marketa- 

 ble portion. These Chives appear to be natives 

 of this country. 



Calture. Onions will grow on any soil from 

 muck meadows to clay loam. Muck soil will not 

 make a flrst-class Onion without silica added in 

 the form of gravel or sand. Two hundred loads 

 of gravelly, gritty soil should be carted on to an 

 acre; otherwise the Onions will be coarse, thick 

 necked, of bad color, soft and spongy and poor 

 keepers. In other respects the muck may be 

 treated like upland soils. Apply bone and ashes 

 rather than barnyard manure; this applies not 

 only for Onions but for any crop In such soil. A 

 gravelly, sandy loam gives Onions the strawy 

 color so much desired. Very heavy manuring 

 gives earlier, harder and thicker bulbs and causes 

 them to npen all at once. To put in more ma- 

 nure than is really needed makes the crop much 

 earlier and often pays well. 



A weedy soil should be avoided. Twitch grass, 

 Purslane and Chickweed are especially injurious 

 in an Onion bed. If a bed is badly infested 

 it is better to try new land. Sod should be well 

 rotted by other crops before planting Onion ; 

 they can be raised the second year from pasture 

 sod and in three years from mowing sod. In 

 pasture land there are few weeds. As much 

 as 700 bushels of Onions per acre have been 

 raised on black muck soil without manure. 

 They seem to do better in the West on such soUs 

 than here. 



Onions will foUow Carrots, Potatoes or Com 

 kindly, and Cabbages and Mangel Wurzel, which 

 have drawn heavily on the soil for potash, pro- 

 dded an extra dressing of this element is given. 

 It is often said that Onions could be raised suc- 

 cessfully for many years on the same ground, 

 and in one instance they had been raised about 

 ninety years continuously, but now we can get 

 only a few crops oft the same piece of ground. 

 A deep, strong soil is best; it should have suflic- 

 ient moisture and be level or nearly so, so the 

 wash of the land will not cover the young plants. 



Varieties, CnltlTation, etc. The Danvers is 

 mostly cultivated in New England. The Cracker 

 is earlier and of fine quality, and will grow 

 farthest north of any. The Southport White 

 Globe is very handsome, but requires great care 

 in curing. After being pulled they should be 

 piled in heaps of two or three bushels each and 

 covered up or placed in airy buildings six inches 

 deep. The White Pearl and Early Queen are 

 very nice for early bunching; about as early as 



those raised from sets. In Connecticut the red. 

 white and yellow Southport are favorite varie- 

 ties. The Top Onion is sometimes planted in 

 August for May marketing. The Egyptian be- 

 longs to a distinct class; it is of irregular form, 

 and is planted in September, and starts early in 

 spring— earlier than the weeds. They have to be 

 planted but once. Onion seed raised here is much 

 better than foreign. 



With the Monarch pulverizer and Meeker har- 

 row three and a half acres were prepared in 

 four hours. The Meeker harrow consLst of four 

 series of wheels, and will do the work of eighteen 

 men: it makes the ground as fine as raking, but 

 does not press down the stones. 



Manure. Apply at least ten cords of barnyard 

 manure per acre, or its equivalent. Farmers in 

 the vicinity of Boston use 20 cords of stable 

 manure. But he thought it better to use half 

 the quantity of manure, and the other half in 

 commercial fertilizers, or cheaper yet, to use all 

 fertilizer. The latter can be applied at any period 

 of growth, but there is danger from using a 

 phosphate continuously. The application of 

 three or four hundred pounds of nitrate of soda 

 per acre can be recommended, or if the crop 

 looks feeble, a complete fertilizer may be used. 

 Use less manure and more nitrate of soda. 



Four pounds of seed is about the usual quantity, 

 but four and a half or five pounds may be used 

 on new soil, and from five to six pounds on very 

 rich soil. It is important to plant early. The 

 rows should be from 13 to 18 inches apart. Blank 

 spaces should not be filled in with Tomatoes, 

 Cabbages or other large growing plants. 



Weed just as soon as a row can be seen. It is a 

 good plan to sow Kadish seed with the Onions, 

 that the rows may be distinguished more plainly. 

 Two or three rainy days mean an extra weeding. 

 The flnger-weeder gives the ojierator very com- 

 plete control over his work. With a sliding 

 weeder there is danger of cutting or bruising the 

 bulbs. It is an excellent plan to double slide 

 them as we go along, first close to one row and 

 then close to the other. They should be weeded 

 from five to seven times during the season. 



For the Onion maggot hens and chickens were 

 found an effectual remedy. A hen and brood of 

 chickens will take care of from an acre to an 

 acre and a half. Gas lime has been used with 

 effect, but abounding in chlorine must be used 

 with care. 



In harvesting, green ones should not be mixed 

 with dry ones. When most of the tops are down 

 there is danger of their re-rooting. On highly 

 manured land they will be ready to hai-vest 

 earlier than on land not much enriched. I freeze 

 a part of my crop, piling them fifteen inches deep 

 and from fifteen inches to two feet from the 

 wall of the building, the space between the wall 

 and the Onions being filled with hay; they are 

 then covered two feet deep with hay. They 

 must not be touched or handled while frozen. 

 For marketing they should be evenly assorted; 

 many small ones cause extra loss in price. 



The Retail Florist. — Essentials of 

 Success. 



Paper read before the Buffalo Florists' Club, February 

 7, 1889, by Daniel B. Long. 



What would to many retail Florists seem 

 business obstacles, the wide-awake man, 

 with a natural taste in this direction accepts 

 as spice quite attractive to him. The 

 chances he takes every day in handling his 

 perishable products, have their charms, if 

 not profits, invariably. And yet the cus- 

 tomer who thinks the man behind the coun- 

 ter is having only pleasure besides making 

 a good deal of money, would, on trying it, 

 find out his delusion very soon. 



The florist who shuns nature's simple guid- 

 ance in his work must find sooner or later that 

 he has turned away from his best preceptor. I 

 maintain that there is less in " fashions in flow- 

 ers " than we were wont to be taught a few 

 years ago, so-called fashions being very local 

 and very temporary. The stately Camellia was 

 east aside after such a prominent use years ago, 

 not because fashion demanded it, but that the 

 taste for variety absolutely called for a change 

 here, and such an assortment of Roses came in 

 as would have fairly turned the head of the flor- 

 ist of thirty years ago. 



The artiticially tinted Lily of the Valley, and 

 the made up " Emerald Pink," had to take a 

 back place almost as soon as they appeared in 

 the storas. 



I well remember that when Bishop Coxe of 

 this city some years ago condemned the luxury 

 of flowers at funerals, I feared that from his in- 

 fluence this might materially reduce the demand, 

 but this it did only in a temporary sense. Even 

 to-day when it is fashionable to publish that 

 flowers are not desired, the matter in fact does 

 not affect the trade unfavorably. 



To arrange after simple natural principles is 

 often made difficult by the tastes of our cus- 

 tomers; but the florist, when master of his own 

 actions, has httle excuse for flagrant transgres- 

 sions. In decorating within doors, the differ- 

 ence between heavy and Ught materials must be 

 recognized. A nice specimen Palm of sturdy 

 growth is most attractive when set on or near 

 the floor, but for a blank wall space over a tow- 

 ering piece of furniture use something light, 

 airy and graceful. Flowers like Tulips, Hya- 

 cinths and most bulbs appear more natural and 

 are far more effective if we look down on them, 

 tipped forward to the view when in a high po- 

 sition, hence it is not easy to err. 



Liberabty is a necessary condition of general 

 success. Not the people with miserly minds are 

 those that buy flowers and sustain your business. 

 No indeed, the buyers are people whose acquaint- 

 ance is an honor to you, and who themselves are 

 possessed of liberal spirit. If you don't make as 

 much this year as you would like to, and can't 

 see the way clear to do a great deal better next, 

 don't become discouraged. Sooner or later, if 

 you've been schooling yourself properly, and 

 got ready for the rush, you will reap the benefit, 

 and be surprised at how easy success came. 



No good reason exists for beUttling your pro- 

 fession. The calling is a noble, useful and worthy 

 one ; but it will bear more ennobling before we 

 pass away. 



A liberal feeling toward one another sufficient 

 to keep selling prices of flowers at a paying stand- 

 ard at all times should exist among florists of 

 one locality. If one happens to have an over- 

 stock of one thing I consider it a gross indignity 

 to the trade, and an injury to his own business, 

 to offer and sell it regularly at prices way below 

 real value. Far better adhere to fair prices and 

 give away the surplus to worthy institutions 

 of charity, or else make displays for display's 

 sake only of such surplus and so benefit others. 

 I do not believe that the man who attempts to do 

 a rushing trade by offering ruinously low prices 

 at times, wUl accomplish any permanent advan- 

 tage. 



In competing tor patronage we should aim to 

 impress people with the idea that a degree of 

 confidence in the florist, in his ability to please, 

 and in honest intentions, is of far more conse- 

 quence in placing their orders, than the advan- 

 tage of a few cent's saving by securing competi- 

 tion prices. 



The enterprising florist visits, his neighbors at 

 home and elsewhere, thus broadening his mental 

 vision. He also takes an interest in his local 

 Florists' Club, the National Society and kindred 

 associations. 



In this business, experience gained in years of 

 steady every -day practice,is of more consequence 

 I think, than capital. Beginners should learn the 

 trade thoroughly before venturing boldly on un- 

 certain issues ; and be the gainers in the end. 



Western New York Horticultural 

 Society. 



{Report of January Meeting Continuedfrom Page 127.) 

 London Purple Solution. One pound of the 

 poison in 300 gallons of water is the proportion 

 recommended by Prof. Cook as certain and safe. 

 Can be used to destroy codling moth, curculio, 

 leaf rollers, tent caterpillars and canker worms. 

 For codlin apply just after the blossoms have 

 fallen, and again two weeks later. For curculio 

 apply as soon as the calyx falls, and again twice 

 at intervals of ten days. The force pump 

 with geared attachment is Mr. Cook's favor- 

 ite implement for applying liquid insecticides. 

 This with being a power machine, there is consid- 

 erable satisfaction in the use of it. You can let 

 the horses walk quite fast, and go all around each 

 tree. The liquid goes on with a tremendous dash 

 In fact all liquid poisons should be thus appUed, 

 in order to reach through the protecting foliuge, 

 and do the work thoroughly. 



Curculio Remedy. Spraying with London 

 purple solutions is a safe and sure remedy for the 

 curculio. Another sure cure is a mixture of one 

 pint of crude carboUc acid and 50 pounds of plas- 

 ter thrown over the tree in curcxilio time. Plas- 

 ter is better than air-slacked lime, although the 

 latter can be used with perfect success. 



