supply of moisture for the plant to draw upon during the J',°°^^J'"" 

 season of dry weather which we invariably have during _^^ — 

 July and August. 



Ploughing for the onion crop should Cultivation, 



preferably be done in the fall and to the 

 depth of eight inches or more, leaving the soil in the furrow 

 to be acted upon by the frost during the winter, and at the 

 same time becoming more compact — fhe onion likes a solid 

 seed bed. When for any reason the ploughing has to be 

 done in the spring it should be done very early and worked 

 down solid. The lands should be narrow, so that the 

 numerous dead furrows will drain off any excessive surface 

 moisture early in the spring, as it is desired to get the seed 

 sown as early as possible. 



As soon as the condition of the soil will p^^^ y^^ ^^ ^j^^ 

 permit in the spring it should be worked i^arrow and 

 over with the harrow or pulverizer as p^iyej-izer. 

 deeplv as the ground will allow and rolled 

 with a heavy roller, which should be followed at once with 

 a light harrow, which will loosen the surface soil and form a 

 light mulch to help conserve the moisture. This operation 

 should be repeated each week until it is time to sow the seed, 

 which should be sown in this latitude when the apple trees 

 begin to bloom. 



The seed should be sown with a hand seed drill sowing 

 about three-quarters of an inch deep and in rows about 

 fifteen inches apart, sowing about six pounds of seed per 

 acre. (The varietv depending on the requirements of your 

 prospective market, also on the behavior of different 

 varieties when grown in your locality.) 



In about five davs after the seed is sown the field should 

 be gone over with the weeder to destroy any weeds that 

 have started to germinate near the surface, and again in 

 three or four days or before the onions come up, always 

 going across the rows with the weeder. 



After the onions are up so that you can see the rows 

 you can take the wheel hoe and carefully cultivate the rows, 

 using the sharp blades that are made for that purpose and 

 goino; not more than one-half inch deep. 



x-ls soon as any more weeds appear to be germinating in 

 the rows go over again with the weeder. The weeder may 

 appear to be doing some damage, but if handled caretully 



