VEGETABLES OXIOX. 249 



so as to "knee " them, as it is called, at the neck of the 

 bulb ; this checks the flow of sap, and tends to ripen the 

 bulb. 



After the tops of the Onions become yellow and wither 

 up, they should then be pulled without unnecessary de- 

 lay, for if there is continued wet weather, and we delay 

 the pulling too long, a secondary growth of the bulbs 

 may be developed, which would seriously injure the crop. 

 After pulling, lay the bulbs in convenient rows, so as to 

 cover the ground, but not to lie on each other. By turn- 

 ing them every day or two, in six or eight days they will 

 usually be dry enough to be carted to their storage quar- 

 ters, where the shriveled tops are cut off, and the Onions 

 stored on shitted shelves to the depth of six or eight 

 inches, in some dry and airy place. It is of importance 

 to have the bottom of the shelves slatted, so as to leave 

 spaces an inch or so apart, that air can be admitted at 

 the bottom as well as the top of the heap. The shelves, 

 when all the space at hand is to be made available, may 

 be constructed one above another. But if to be kept 

 through the winter, the Onions must be protected in 

 some building capable of resisting severe frost, or they 

 mus f , be covered with hay or straw as a protection against 

 extreme cold. For, although the Onion will stand a 

 moderate degree of frost, any long continuation of a zero 

 temperature would injure them. When frozen, they 

 should never be handled, as in that condition they are 

 easily blemished, and would rot. When kept in barrels, 

 holes should be bored in the sides for ventilation, and 

 they should be left unheaded until shipping time, to 

 permit the escape of any moisture that may be generated. 



For the insects and other enemies that attack the 

 Onion crop, I am much afraid there are few if any effec- 

 tive remedies. Every year's experience with the enemies 

 that attack plants in the open field convinces me that we 

 can successfully cope with very few of them. The rem- 



