ONION 



489 



In growing onions from seed, it is only necessary to say that the seed 

 should be in the ground very early in order that the bulbs make their 

 growth before the extreme hot weather of August, when, for want of 

 moisture and because of the heat, the bulbs will ripen up while small. 

 Early in April, in New York, if 

 the ground is in condition, the 

 seed should be sown thickly in 

 drills frqm 12 to 16 inches apart, 

 and the ground above the seeds 

 well firmed. Good cultivation 

 and constant weeding is the price 

 of a good crop of onions. In cul- 

 tivating and hoeing, the ^oil 

 should be kept away from the 

 rows, not covering the growing 

 bulbs, but allowing them to 

 spread over the surface of the 

 ground. When the crop is ready 

 to be harvested, the bulbs may 

 be pulled or cultivated up, left to 

 dry in double rows for several 

 days, the tops and roots taken 

 off, and the bulbs stored in a dry 

 place. Later in the season they 

 may be allowed to freeze, cover- 

 ing with chaff or straw to hold 

 them frozen, and kept until early 

 spring; but this method is usually 310. Bunch onions, grown from seed, 

 unsafe with beginners, and always so in a changeable climate. Onion 

 seed should always be fresh when sown — preferably of the last year's 

 crop. One ounce of onion seed will sow 100 feet of drill. 



One of the recent methods of securing extra large and also early 

 bulbs from seed is to sow the seed in a hotbed in February or early 

 March, and transplant to the open ground in April. A bunch of onions, 

 for eating from hand, is shown in Fig. 310. 



The Danvers, Prizetaker, Globe, and Wethersfield are favorite va- 

 rieties, with the addition of White Queen or Barletta for pickling. 



