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set out about t,wo inches apart; if this 

 is performed in dry weather it will keep 

 the beds free from weeds for six weeks 

 longer, when they must be hoed a 

 second time, and thinned to four inches 

 apart ; and now, where they have failed, 

 the vacancies may be filled up by trans- 

 planting there some of those thinned 

 out. The best time for doing this is j 

 in the evening, and water must be given 

 for several successive nights. In trans- 

 planting, the root only is to be inserted, 

 and no part of the stem buried. No 

 plant is more benefited by liquid manure 

 being given twice a week. After the 

 lapse of another month they must be 

 thoroughly gone over for the last time, 

 and the plants thinned to six inches 

 asunder. After this they require only 

 occasionally the stirring of the surface, 

 which the hoe effects. In order to 

 prevent their running too much to 

 blade, it is a good practice, in July, 

 before the tips change to a yellow hue, 

 to bend the stems down fiat upon the 

 bed, which not only prevents it, but 

 causes the bulbs to become much 

 larger than they otherwise would. The 

 bend should be made about two inches 

 up the neck. 



Storing. About the close of August 

 the onions will have arrived at their 

 full growth, which may be known by 

 the withering of the foliage, by the 

 shrinking of the necks, and by the ease 

 with which they may be pulled up. 

 As soon as these symptoms appear, 

 they must be taken up, the bed being 

 frequently looked over ; for if the whole 

 crop is waited for, the forwardest, es- 

 pecially in moist situations, or seasons, 

 are apt again to strike root. 



Spread on mats in the sun, frequently 

 turn, and remove under shelter at 

 night. In two or three weeks, when 

 the roots and blades are perfectly 

 withered, and the bulbs become firm, 

 they are fit for storing, being housed 

 in dry weather, and carefully preserved 

 from bruising ; previously to doing 

 this, all soil and refuse must be re- 

 moved from them; for these are apt 

 to induce decay : to prevent this as 

 much us possible, all faulty ones should 

 bo rejected. In the store-house they 

 must be laid as thin at> may be, or 



hung up in ropes, and looked over at 

 least once a month. To preserve some 

 from sprouting, for late use, it is useful 

 to sear the roots and the summits 

 with a hot iron, care being taken not to 

 scorch the bulb. 



Additional Modes of Cultivation. For 

 the winter standing crop the only addi- 

 tional directions necessary are to tread 

 in the seed regularly before raking, if 

 the soil, as it ought to be, is dry and 

 light. They must be kept constantly 

 clear of weeds, as well as of the fallen 

 leaves of trees, but they need not be 

 thinned. Early in spring they are to 

 be transplanted for bulbing. Sow in 

 May. Cultivate the plants as in the 

 other crops ; and in October the bulbs, 

 being of the size of nuts, are to be 

 taken up, dried, and housed, as directed 

 for the full-grown bulbs. About the 

 middle of the following March they 

 must be planted out in rows, six inches 

 apart each way, and cultivated the 

 same as the other crops. If sown 

 earlier than May they run to seed 

 when transplanted. Another mode, 

 nearly as efficacious, is to sow in the 

 latter part of August, to stand the 

 winter, and in March, early or late, 

 according to the forward growth of the 

 seedlings, to be planted out in rows at 

 the before-directed distance, and culti- 

 vated as usual. 



In Portugal, they sow in a moderate 

 hotbed during November or December, 

 in a warm situation, with a few inches 

 of mould upon it ; and the plants are 

 protected from frost by hoops and 

 mats : in April or May, of the size of 

 a swan's quill, they are transplanted 

 into a light rich loam, well manured 

 with old rotten dung, to bulb. Trans- 

 planting alone is of great benefit. 



To save Seed, some old onions must 

 be planted early in March. The finest 

 and firmest bulbs being selected and 

 planted in rows ten inches apart each 

 way, either in drills or by a blunt-ended 

 dibble, the soil to be rather poorer, if 

 it differs at all from that in which they 

 are cultivated for bulbing. They must 

 be buried so deep that the mould just 

 covers the crown. If grown in large 

 quantities, a path must be left two feet 

 wide between every .three or four rows 



