VEGETABLE GROWING 409 



with a liberal supply of food and moisture during dry weather. A method of getting 

 ground into fine condition for Onions is, after trenching and burying a dressing of manure 

 deep into it, to give to the surface a further dressing of well-decayed short manure, 

 forking that in several inches deep, then leaving the soil to settle down for several weeks 

 before sowing the seed. It is the nature of Onion plants to send roots down deep and 

 direct, but they like the soil fairly firm on the surface, as that tends to force the plants 

 into bulb formation all the sooner. 



Times of Sowing Seed. What is commonly called the spring sowing of the main 

 crop is usually made in the month of March or early in April. The condition of the soil 

 and nature of the weather must determine the exact time, but it is always well to re- 

 member that the tops of very early raised plants often suffer from sharp spring frosts. 

 The usual practice is to strain a garden line across the plot of ground to be sown, and by 

 its aid then with a hoe to draw shallow drills 12 inches apart, sowing the seed thinly along 

 these, and covering it up with soil. If the soil be naturally light, loose, or porous, it is 

 wise before drawing the drills to either tread it over evenly or to run a light roller over it, 

 as that makes it firmer. After filling in the drills the whole plot should be neatly raked over 

 and trodden when dry. The customary autumn sowing is made from the 2oth to the 3Oth 

 of August under similar conditions, but in this case the ground need not be specially 

 prepared if it has carried a crop of early Potatoes, Peas, or some other vegetable, 

 and for these has been previously trenched or deeply dug and manured. It may be 

 but needful to lightly fork over the surface to level it and enable the seed to be sown. 

 As the plants have to stand outdoors all the winter it is unwise to have the soil too rich, 

 as if the plants be coarse or unduly gross they may be killed by severe frosts. The 

 seed sowings may be moderately thin in both cases, as where the plants are thicker in 

 the rows much labour is necessary later in thinning them, and there is also much waste 

 of seed. Even though many plants be used for salading in a young state it is not well to 

 allow them to remain to become large enough for that purpose in the rows that are to be 

 thinned for the main crops. It is so much better to sow one or two extra rows more 

 thickly with seed expressly for pulling when large enough, and clearing the plants 

 entirely as wanted. From the autumn sown breadths it is good practice in March to lift 

 some plants carefully so as to preserve the roots, and to dibble them out into rows 12 

 inches apart, the plants being 6 inches from each other in the rows. If the planting be 

 carefully done so that the roots go down well into the holes and be firmly fixed, the bases 

 of the plants just being covered, and the ground has been well prepared, much finer bulbs 

 usually result than in the rows of the plants left where sown. As a rule the thinning of 

 the autumn-sown plants is not done until March or thereabouts. 



General Culture after thinning consists of a free use of the hoe between the rows 

 through the growing season, and an occasional dressing of soot or of some artificial 

 manure or guano in showery weather, having it well hoed in. That washes down and 

 greatly assists the formation of fine bulbs. Still it is best to give these dressings after 

 bulbs have begun to form. It is also good practice to go over the plants when strong and 

 well advanced, and to gently press the stems just above where bulbs are being formed, to 

 cause the tops or leaves to rest on the ground and all one way. That practice not only 

 gives the bed a neat appearance, but it assists the plants to form bulbs, which is the 

 primary object in Onion culture. But very stiff-necked plants should be dealt with care- 

 fully lest they break off. The bulbs from a spring sowing are usually ripe to pull ready 

 for storing for the winter about the end of August or early in September. They should 

 remain on the ground to dry thoroughly for a couple of days, if it does not rain. If rain 

 prevails then the crop should be pulled and put under cover before cleaning off decayed 

 stems and final storing in a cool shed or store on shelves for the winter. Where the 

 thinning has been properly done, the plants being about 4 inches apart, usually a very 

 firm, even sample of bulb is produced. Autumn sown bulbs are usually thinned down to 

 9 inches apart. These are ripe for pulling towards the end of July or thereabouts. 



Winter-Sowing. To raise bulbs of great size and weight, the practice is to sow seed 

 in shallow pans or boxes filled with light soil about the first week in January. The 

 seed is sown moderately thick, then the pan or box is stood in a frame or greenhouse 

 where there is a little warmth, and kept near the light; growth follows in a couple of 

 weeks. When the plants are 3 inches in height they must be lifted from the seed-boxes 

 and be dibbled, 2 inches apart each way, into other shallow boxes, or singly into 3-inch 

 pots, filled as before with light soil, well watered ; then stood on shelves or near the grass. 

 There they must remain until the plants have become 6 inches in height. Then put the 

 boxes into a cold frame, where the plants get plenty of light and air. Every care must 

 be taken to keep the plants erect, which they will be when well exposed to the light. 

 Planting outdoors is done from the middle to the end of April, the ground for these 

 plants having been previously trenched and manured as advised for the spring sown 

 crop. The rows, marked out with a line, should be 16 inches apart, very shallow drills 



