368 VEGETABLE FORCING 
the varieties may be used for forcing, but the Egyptian or 
Top onion is most generally employed. It is an 
extremely hardy onion that endures the hardest freezing. 
An Ohio grower describes his method as follows in the 
Market Growers’ Journal: 
“I plant the largest sets I can get in the open ground early in 
September, 2 inches deep, 4 or 5 inches apart in the row, and the 
rows 14 or 15 inches apart. These will make a nice growth before 
cold weather sets in and winter nicely without protection. I culti- 
vate the following summer just as any other garden crop, and harvest 
the sets during July or August. After the top sets have been har- 
vested we cut the old stem off about 1 inch below the surface of 
the ground, This leaves the ground level and ready for the mulch- 
ing which is the secret of long green onions for bunching. We 
cover the entire surface with coarse manure 4 or 5 inches deep, 
just as it comes from the livery stable. We are careful that no 
heavy bunches of manure lie directly on the row. Within a few 
weeks the onions are through the mulch and make a number of 
long, green shoots from 34 to 9% of an inch in thickness and from 
12 to 20 in number. Roots and all are harvested in the late fall 
just before hard freezing sets in, and stored in any protected place. 
“We use unoccupied coldframes and pack as closely as the onions 
can be set, with a little earth between the rows, packed well against 
the roots. This gives us access to them at any time in the winter. 
We begin forcing about December 1 by placing them under our 
propagating benches in the greenhouse, always in a perpendicular 
position to avoid having them grow crooked. We allow about three 
weeks for the first setting to grow a new top and to be ready for 
our market. Toward spring, less time is required for them to attain 
marketable size. They grow so rapidly when placed in a house that 
only a few can be put in at one time. We put in new stock each 
day when we take out any for sale.” 
Sometimes the garden beds of sets are heavily mulched 
during the winter, dug early in the spring and taken to 
the greenhouse for forcing. Another plan is to plant the 
top sets in August or early in September. Before the 
ground freezes late in the fall the sets are dug and 
heeled in close together in a cool shed, from which they 
