260 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



the best month for the purpose. They all require a rich, 

 friable soil and a situation enjoying the full influence of 

 the sun, and free from the shade and drip of trees. If 

 the soil be poor or exhausted, an abundance of manure 

 should be applied some time before planting and thor- 

 oughly incorporated with it; for rank, unreduced dung 

 is injurious, engendering decay. If applied at the time of 

 planting, the manure must be thoroughly decomposed, 

 and turned in only to a moderate depth. If the ground 

 be tenacious, sand, or better still, charcoal dust, is advan- 

 tageous ; ashes and soot are particularly beneficial. Com- 

 mon salt, at the rate of six to eight bushels per acre, is an 

 excellent application to this family of plants. In digging 

 the ground, small spadefuls should be turned over at a 

 time, that the texture may be well broken and pulverized. 



The common onion, A. Cepa, a Liliaceous plant, is prob- 

 ably a native of Asia and Egypt, has been cultivated 

 from the most remote antiquity, and is one of the most 

 useful of our garden crops. 



Ashes, bone-dust, gypsum, and the salt and lime mix- 

 ture will supply nearly all the inorganic constituents of 

 this crop ; and where they do not already exist in sufficient 

 quantities in the soil they may be supplied in addition to 

 animal manure. An experienced cultivator states that when 

 sufficient manure cannot be obtained, four hundred pounds 

 of Peruvian guano composted with five bushels of bone 

 dust, dissolved in sulphuric acid, and enough charcoal dust 

 to divide the mass, will be found to produce a maximum 

 crop. Guano water and spent lye well diluted are excellent 

 liquid manures. They do not require a change of soil, 

 being an exception to the general rule that plants like a 

 rotation, as they have been grown in Scotland a century 

 in the same spot without any diminution of the crop. 



The onion can be grown in great perfection at the South. 

 In the hot climates of Spain, Portugal, and especially 

 Egypt, the finest onions in the world are produced, the 



