ONIONS 181 



impossible, and to secure this end it is well always to 

 save one's own seed from a few selected bulbs. Mr. 

 Beckett writes : "I do not for one moment wish to 

 infer that good seed cannot be purchased, as many of 

 our leading seedsmen take great care to select stocks, 

 and good results frequently follow, but my contention 

 is that a bird in the hand is worth two or three in the 

 bush. 



" With regard to the variety, I know nothing to 

 compare with Ailsa Craig, and my opinion is that 

 when at its best it represents a typical Onion, which 

 will be for many years hard to beat. The seed should 

 be sown for all southern districts early in January, and 

 for the more northern parts at the end of the month 

 or early in February in boxes two feet long, one foot 

 wide, and four and a half inches deep. Give proper 

 drainage and cover it with pieces of fibrous loam." 



A suitable compost will consist of two parts good 

 fibrous loam, one part spent Mushroom bed material, 

 one part well-decayed leaf soil, adding to these in- 

 gredients sufficient coarse sand to keep the whole porous. 

 This should be well mixed and passed through a quarter- 

 inch-mesh sieve, afterwards filling the boxes to within 

 half an inch of the top. Make the compost thoroughly 

 firm, when the seed may be sown thinly. Add suffi- 

 cient soil just to cover the seed, which should be pressed 

 down firmly with a piece of board and well watered 

 in with a fine rose. The most suitable place for raising 

 the plants is an early vinery or peach house just started, 

 but a light position in the greenhouse will also answer, 



