CHAPTER VIII. 



THE CULTURE OF BULB AND STEM CROPS. 



Onion. 



Botanical Name : Allium cepa. 

 Natural Order : Liliacece. 



THE onion is said to be the cultivated form of a plant 

 which grows wild in Afghanistan and Western 

 Siberia, and its culture and use date back to a very 

 remote period of antiquity. 



Soil and Manures. This plant succeeds best, 

 naturally, in a deep loam, medium to moderately 

 heavy in texture and rich in humus or decayed 

 manure. If a soil is far from answering to this 

 description, special measures must be taken to im- 

 prove it when preparing a section for onions. The 

 onion is a deep-rooting plant, and requires a deep, 

 moist root-run for steady continuous growth through- 

 out the season. The ground should be double dug 

 in early winter, laying the top soil up roughly to the 

 weather, working in at the same time a liberal amount 

 of good farmyard manure, so that it may be well 

 decayed before planting in spring. Poultry and 

 pigeon manure are the best for this crop, but, failing 



94 



