182 ONIONS. 



when sown thickly, is liable to " damp off " before 

 coming through the surface, and great losses are some- 

 times sustained from this cause. To make it more 

 convenient for working, every eighth row is left 

 blank ; this will leave the young " sets " in narrow 

 beds, turning the blank row into a walk. 



These sets will be ripe in August ; they are taken 

 out of the ground and left on the rows to dry. They 

 are then placed upon a loft, not more than eight or 

 ten inches in thickness. They should be examined 

 and turned occasionally, for if the weather is warm 

 and damp, they may suffer some injury from rotting. 

 When cold weather sets in, we put on a light co\'er- 

 ing of salt hay as a protection from the frost. A 

 pound of seed when sown thickly, will give three or 

 four bushels of "Set" Onions. 



The market-gardener plants "sets" instead of sow- 

 ing seed, on ground rich enough to produce early 

 Cabbages, using from fifty to seventy two-horse loads 

 of manure to the acre, turning it under and then mak- 

 ing the surface level. The rows are marked out one 

 foot apart, the "sets" distributed along each row 

 three inches apart, and firmly pressed in place by hand, 

 roots downward. This done, the earth is drawn over 

 the rows by the feet. To give more ease in cultiva- 

 ting, every eighth row is left blank, for a passage-way. 



The Onions soon start a vigorous growth, and the 

 gardener is just as vigorous in his efforts to keep 

 ahead of the weeds, by disturbing the whole surface 

 before the weeds appear, and often enough to keep 

 the ground loose and clean. 



It will take from eight to ten bushels of "sets" to 



