ALLIACEOUS PLANTS.— THE ONION. 



37 



on the surface in a very decomposed state. 

 When levelled, the seeds are sown, and 

 pressed down by the back of a rake ; a 

 little fine soil is thrown over from the 

 alleys. When the plants are about an 

 inch above ground, they are dressed every 

 three or four weeks with a mixture of 

 guano and charcoal-dust, to the extent of 

 a handful to each square yard, one-third 

 being guano, choosing moist days for 

 applying it. 



Before quitting the subject of sowing 

 and planting onions, we may remark 

 that, however sanctioned by the practice 

 of ages, the custom of sowing other crops 

 along with the onion, considered as a 

 general one, is erroneous. The ancients 

 believed that some plants had a sympathy 

 with, or antipathy to each other. They 

 also set great importance on sowing, plant- 

 ing, gathering the crops, &c., at certain 

 stages of the moon. Both these doctrines 

 we have been taught from childhood to 

 regard as absurdities ; but, strange to say, 

 something about the latter has been very 

 recently revived, and the greatest horti- 

 cultural oracle of the age has thrown out 

 a hint that we should henceforth desist 

 from covering our cucumber beds at night, 

 that the plants may receive the full influ- 

 ence of Luna's silvery beams. As regards 

 the former also, while we must continue 

 to consider the explanation utterly un- 

 founded, the chemistry of plants has shown 

 us that, in some cases at least, the prac- 

 tice might be less absurd than at first 

 sight appears; for it is conceivable that 

 two species of plants might draw essen- 

 tially difierent nourishment from the soil, 

 and that each might be withdrawing from 

 it something, the excess of which was 

 hurtful to the other — each thus indirectly 

 aiding the healthy growth and full de- 

 velopment of the other. 



Eetuming, however, to the sowing of 

 onions in conjunction with other plants — 

 a little lettuce- seed may be thinly scat- 

 tered over the ground after the onions are 

 sown, as the plants wiU come ofi' soon, 

 and many of them may be transplanted ; 

 but the old practice of sowing leeks, par- 

 slay, or carrots along with onions, is doing 

 justice to neither. It is, however, worth 

 remarking that, in soils where carrots are 

 destroyed by grub, they often, when sown 

 along with onions or leeks, escape their 

 attacks. 



VOL. II. 



The London market-gardeners sow in 

 beds five feet wide, and in the broadcast 

 manner. They cover with soil from the 

 alleys, by throwing it over the seed. The 

 beds are raked over with a wooden rake, 

 and a light wooden roller is drawn over 

 the surface, being more expeditious and 

 proper than foot-treading, for which they 

 have no time. Such ground as theirs 

 is much benefited by rolling, as it is so 

 soft, spongy, and full of humus, from the 

 enormous quantity of manure which is at 

 almost every change of crop trenched 

 into it. 



The number of roots required to plant 

 any given space will be readily ascer- 

 tained by referring to the distances given 

 above. 



The quantity of seed required to sow 

 in the broadcast manner a bed 4 feet by 

 24, when all or part of the crop is to be 

 drawn young, is two ounces ; but for the 

 same space, if the crop is intended to 

 come to maturity, half that quantity wiU 

 be sufficient. According to the drill sys- 

 tem of sowing, a third less in both cases 

 will be ample. There is a great mistake 

 in thick-sowing : the plants become weak 

 and drawn up at first starting; and thin- 

 ning, either in time or to a sufficient ex- 

 tent, is too seldom attended to. This 

 should have been placed as one of the 

 first items in the very sensible, but sa- 

 tirical, directions given by the author of 

 a series of papers in "The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle," entitled, " How to mismanage 

 a garden." In stating, however, the quan- 

 tities of seed necessary for sowing a given 

 space, we may state, once for all, that our 

 quantities are given on the presumption 

 that the seed is good. For means of as- 

 certaining this, vide article Propagation 

 BY Seed. 



Subsequent cultivation. — The subsequent 

 culture of this crop consists in keeping 

 the ground between the drills perfectly 

 clear of weeds by repeated hoeing — not 

 waiting, however, as some do, till the 

 weeds become the principal crop, requir- 

 ing no small skill, and a vast amount 

 of labour, to remove them, leaving the 

 young tender onions exposed to the full 

 rays of the sun, or perhaps to a frosty 

 May morning, either of which they are in a 

 very unfit state to withstand, having been 

 hitherto snugly sheltered under the pro- 

 tecting shade of groundsel and chick'- 



