76 CohhetCs Indian Corn. 



grow too late, and the onions were omitted to be timely 

 thinned. The lettuces were at length drawn, the onions 

 were thinned, and wood ashes (here called hearth ashes) 

 were, at two different periods, spread over the bed, and the 

 intervals between the drills dug, and frequently stirred after- 

 wards. The consequence of this treatment was soon visible 

 in the rapid growth of the plants, which before were small 

 and stunted, from the neglect of thinning, &c. 



I do not follow the plan of prematurely stopping the 

 growth of the onion by breaking the stalk, but permit it to 

 grow as long as it will. When the stalk breaks down of 

 itself, I draw up the onion. Such being my daily plan, my 

 crop, of course, is in the progress of drawing for many days ; 

 and, when drawn, I lay them out in rows to dry, and occa- 

 sionally turn them over. 



I housed my crop on the 2d of this month (October), and 

 it contained 204 onions, weighing 108 lbs. Many were 15 in. 

 in circumference, their weight being as many ounces. One 

 weighed 1 lb. 2 oz. ; and a rope or string, containing 38 

 onions, weighed 28 lbs. Where the Patagonian lettuces 

 were permitted to grow, there the onions were all dwarfs. 

 That circumstance, of course, tended most materially to lessen 

 my average weight. Had proper care and attention been 

 paid to the crop in an early stage, I am convinced that the 

 weight of it would have been more than double. The object 

 of my experiment has, however, been obtained ; namely, to 

 prove that wide cropping, and the admission of air to the 

 roots, by frequently stirring the soil between the drills, are the 

 means to obtain large onions. 



Comments I will not add to my plain narrative. Should 

 you, or your correspondents, favour me with comments, they 

 will assist a young gardener in forming his opinions, and in 

 increasing his knowledge, I am, Sir, yours, &c. 



Sla]iton, near Dartmouth, John Mitchell, Jun. 



October 10. 1832. 



Art. XXIV. Remarks on Cobbetfs Indian Corn. By William 

 RoTHWELL, Farmer and Nurseryman, Spout Bank, near Bury, 

 Lancashire. 



Sir, 

 All that Mr. Cobbett either says or does, with some per- 

 sons, is right ; with others, it is always wrong. I pay little 

 attention to either class, but judge for myself. I have been 

 a cultivator of his Indian corn for three years, but only to the 



