REPORT OF COMMITTEE. G3 



ing with coarse gravel are always to be avoided ; reclaimed mead- 

 ow, with a ligbt coating of sand, freciuently gives quite as good 

 return in quantity as any soil that can be chosen, although the 

 quality is sometimes inferior; lands also abounding with stone, are 

 always troublesome ; it has again and again been noticed, that in 

 the preparation of the field each year,it apparently requires about as 

 mucli labor to remove the stone as to perform the rest of the work ; 

 fields overrun with weeds and troublesome grapes, should not be 

 taken for onions, as there is no root crop that requires so tender 

 care in weeding; hence if weeds have already deposited their seeds 

 from careless or indifferent cultivation, it is far better to postpone the 

 operation for another season, or until the seeds shall have become 

 annihilate 1 ; neither will soil so wet that they cannot be worked 

 in early spring, give a good return of this crop. 



The next important work is by the use of the plow ; the depth 

 should be varied according to circumstances ; usually, however, 

 quite shallow ; say about four inches, but the finer, the better. 

 The quantity of manure used and plowed in, should be from nine 

 to ten cords or even more per acre, and not only made fine and 

 free from lumps, but well decomposed; after which a coat of wood 

 ashes or some other fertilizer should be spread upon the surface 

 and well mixed with the soil; in about three weeks after planting, 

 the surface should be moved, and continued to be moved once in 

 eight or ten days, and during the season, another light dressing of 

 some fertilizer applied and worked into the soil, that the rains and 

 dews by this treatment will much facilitate the growth of the crop; 

 therefore, the great secret of growing onions is found in preparing 

 the soil at the outset and by having a clean culture afterwards; 

 one hour's work just at the time the weeds are ready to star*:, is of 

 more value than a day's labor after they have gained a strong foot- 

 hold. 



The onion, unlike most other root crops, may be grown on the 

 same soil for a series of years, without any diminution of quantity 

 or quality, provided the field be kept under a clean cultivation and 

 fine tilth. The writer has known of an onion bed to grow this 

 crop for twenty years, and the last crop equal to the first. 



Although six hundred bushels is considered only a medium 

 crop while eight or ten hundred is considered a large one, we 

 would say to the young man, be not deluded in becoming rich at 

 once by growing onions. Yet we believe, with having a suitable 



