1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



105 



The ground should be hoed occasionally, and the 

 plants thinned so as to stand nine or ten inches 

 apart. In this position they will not grow so large 

 as though farther apart, but will be more tender, 

 crisp and juicy. We have raised a flat, purj.Je- 

 top variety which is excellent, which has recently 

 been introduced in England. 



CULTURE OF ONIONS. 



In the last Farmer, we called the attention of 

 the reader to the importance of producing a plen- 

 tiful supply of ripe, early potatoes, and spoke of 

 their value to the family. We said nothing of 

 them then, however, in a commercial point of 

 view. Since preparing that article, a friend, liv- 

 ing within eighteen miles of Boston, informs us 

 that he recently raised some two or th ,- ee hundred 

 bushels of potatoes, and sold the first forty bar- 

 rels for $4.00 per barrel, the price decreasing on 

 the balance as the season advanced. 



Our present object is to call attention to the 

 culture of onions, and we do this, now because it 

 is one of those crops which scarcely afford any 

 prospect of success, unless it is got into the 

 ground as early as the condition of the soil will 

 permit. Mr. BURR, in his excellent work on the 

 "Field and Garden Vegetables of Ameriea," says 

 the onion requires a light, loamy, mellow soil ; 

 and, unlike most kinds of garden vegetables, suc- 

 ceeds well when cultivated on the same land for 

 successive years." The soil certainly should be 

 light and mellow, but if the seed is sown in a soil 

 that is very light, as it often is left when thorough- 

 ly raked, it will not come so well, nor will the 

 onion assume so just and fair proportions as 

 though the ground were rolled before sowing the 

 seed. 



The seed should be in drills, the rows from 14 

 to 18 inches apart, and the seed covered about 

 half an inch deep, — but this depth must depend 

 upon the condition of the soil. Burr says again, 

 "When the plants are three or four inches high 

 thin them to two inches asunder, and, in the pro- 

 cess of culture, be careful not to stir the soil too 

 deeply, or to collect it about the growing bulbs. 

 The onions will ripen in August, or early in Sep- 

 tember, and their maturity will be indicated by 

 the perfect decay of the leaves, or tops. The 

 bulbs may be drawn from the drill by the hand, 

 or by the use of a common garden-rake. After 

 being exposed for a few days to the sun for drying, 

 they will be ready for storing or for the market." 



When housed, they should be kept in an even 

 temperature, and as cold as they can be without 

 danger of frost. A room that can be thoroughly 

 ventilated is essential : one that may be readily 

 closed during damp weather, and opened when 

 there is a drying breeze. 



The soil should be prepared by digging in rich 



manure. If green manure is well mingled with 

 the soil the fall previous to sowing the seed, it 

 will be in excellent condition to feed the growing 

 plants. 



There are not many varieties of the onion. The 

 one introduced here is well known among large 

 cultivators as the Danvers Onion. 

 It lakes its name from the town 

 where it is largely cultivated, is 

 very productive, "white flesh, 

 SUjgarjr, comparatively mild, and 

 well flavored." 



The Large Bed Onion is a 

 popular variety. It is very pro- 

 ductive, and one of the best to bear transpor- 

 tation. We have sometimes seen it measuring 

 ing 4 or 5 inches in diameter. 



The Potato Onion is sometimes preferred by 

 those who wish for a few only, for family use. It 

 does not produce seed, as other onions, but it in- 

 creases by the root. One single onion of the size 

 of a marble, or a walnut, slightly covered, will 

 produce six or seven in a clump, partly under 

 ground. The bulbs should be planted early in 

 the spring, 10 or 12 inches apart, and kept free 

 from weeds, but the bulb itself not moved after it 

 is set. It is hardy, grows rapidly, and is easy of 

 cultivation. 



The onion, however, that is probablv better 

 known in New England than any other, and which 

 has all the good flesh qualities 

 that are desirable, is the Yel- 

 low Onion, or the Silver-skin 

 of New England, a cut of which 

 is here given. Its size is above 

 medium, skin yellowish brown, 

 or copper-color. Flesh white, 

 fine-grained and excellent. It 

 keeps well, and for the vegetable garden, as well 

 as for field culture, is a standard variety. 



Our principal suggestions are, to sow as early 

 as possible, and mingle wood ashes leached, or un- 

 leached, with and upon the soil. The principal 

 hindrance to onion-growing is the ravages made 

 by the onion-worm. Nothing has yet been dis- 

 covered which is a perfect preventive. One experi- 

 enced grower states that the common yellow snuff 

 mingled with the seed at the time of sowing will 

 do it, and others that wood ashes scattered upon 

 the young plants will stop the operations of the 

 maggot. We believe, however, that the Danvers 

 growers have not yet found any certain remedy 

 for the inroads of this little destructive creature. 



Cows in milk require more food in proportion 

 to their size and weight, than either oxen or young 

 cattle. Cows eat less, however, thrive better, and 

 give more milk, when housed all the time, than 

 when exposed to the cold. 



