382 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



tivation insures extra size to the onion, earliness in the 

 crops and an improvement in the flavor. 



The transplanting is rapidly accomplished by the use 

 of a dibble, made of a piece of wood one inch square and 

 six inches long, shaved to a flat point at one end, and a 

 cross piece fastened to the other for a handle. A line is 

 stretched and the seedlings are planted by pressing the 

 dibble in the soil and pushing from the person, inserting 

 the plant in a vertical position, removing the dibble and 

 firming the earth about the plant. Very rapid work can be 

 accomplished in this manner, and a great many plants 

 can be transplanted from the frames to the garden in a 

 day. In the use of the hot-beds it will be necessary to 

 harden the plants before transplanting by opening the 

 frames during mild days in February or a short time 

 before the plants are taken up, in order to harden them 

 and accustom them to the change. When the plants are 

 to be cultivated with the plow it will be best to make the 

 rows three feet apart. 



The onion requires 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 thoroughly 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 advantageous; ashes and soot are par- 

 ticularly beneficial. Common 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. 



An analvsis of the onion shows that it takes from the 



