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 from 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 soil 
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. 
