ONIONS 183 



and also a good patent manure, choosing showery 

 weather as far as possible, and the best part of the day 

 is late afternoon. 



The Onion fly is sometimes troublesome, but chiefly 

 affects plants raised outside ; it is, however, always 

 well to have a few plants in three-inch pots to make 

 good any failures, or the appearance of the bed will be 

 spoilt. Mildew should be dealt with immediately it 

 is seen. Cut off, remove and burn every affected 

 piece, and to prevent the disease from spreading dust 

 thoroughly with slaked lime and black sulphur fre- 

 quently. Keep the beds free from weeds, and in dry 

 weather give thorough soakings of water, while at 

 every other watering drainings from the farmyard will 

 prove of much assistance. This may be continued 

 until about the middle of August when growth should 

 be practically completed. Complaints are frequent 

 about the keeping qualities of these large specimens. 

 When allowed to remain too long on the ground and 

 roughly handled during lifting they decay quickly. 

 They must not be bruised. When harvested early 

 and carefully handled complaints should be few about 

 premature decay. In the first place, lift partially with 

 a small hand fork all the most shapely and promising 

 bulbs, as this assists ripening and prevents splitting in 

 wet weather. Many of the finest specimens are spoilt 

 through neglect of this. Select a fine day for lifting 

 the crop. In finishing the ripening off it is imperative 

 to keep the bulbs dry, and for this purpose place them 

 in boxes to hold about a dozen, and half fill the boxes 



