GARDEN FARMING 



start. In the latitude of New York the seeds may be sown in the 

 hotbed between March I and March 15, while it is seldom possi- 

 ble to plant in the open at this time. Hotbeds are prepared in the 

 ordinary way, heat being furnished by fermenting stable manure 

 with 3 or 4 inches of rich soil placed over it, as described on 

 page 59. The seeds are usually scattered quite thickly in drills 

 about 2 inches apart, so that from 7000 to 8000 plants are pro- 

 duced under the standard hotbed sash, 3x6 feet. Since it re- 

 quires something like 

 170,000 plants to set 

 an acre, when placed 

 4 inches apart in rows 

 15 inches apart, it 

 takes about 20 sash to 

 supply plants for an 

 acre. Between May i 

 and May 15 these 

 plants will be large 

 enough to transplant 

 to the field, and while 

 danger from frost will 

 not be entirely past, 

 yet the plants can be 

 so far hardened by ex- 

 posure in the hotbeds 

 that they will pass un- 

 injured through the 

 slight frosts that are 

 liable to come after 



this date. The warm soil and the advanced growing season will 

 stimulate rapid growth. The ordinary practice is to remove the 

 seedling plants from the hotbeds, clip off a part of the root sys- 

 tem, reducing the roots to stubs about \ inch in length, and to 

 cut the stem back so that from I inch to i\ inches of the green 

 portion remain above the white. This leaves plants about 4 inches 

 long, as shown in figure 118. These stubby plants are then set 

 in the field in rows from 12 to 18 inches apart at intervals of 

 from 4 to 6 inches in the row. 



FIG. 118. Seedling onion plants prepared for 

 transplanting 



