AND VEGETABLE-GARDEN MANUAL or 
of autumn. Due precaution should be taken to protect the seed 
from the ravages of birds. The white variety is much esteemed 
as a medicine, and from the seed of the brown variety is manufac- 
tured the condiment in daily use. 
NASTURTIUM, OR INDIAN CRESS. 
The flowers and young leaves of this plant are used as salad. 
The seed-pods are gathered when green and tender and pickled as 
a substitute for capers. The seed should be sown from the middle 
to the end of spring, in drills about an inch deep. If support be 
given them on which they can climb, they will prove more produc- 
tive than when suffered to trail on the ground. 
ONION. 
1. Silver Skinned, or White. 3. Large Red Wethersfield. 
2. Large Yellow-Strasburg. 
In order to insure a good crop of Onions, the ground should be 
well prepared by digging in a plentiful supply of old and strong 
manure, very early in the spring. The sooner this be done the 
better. Sow the seed the middle of spring, moderately thick in 
drills one inch deep, and twelve inches apart. When the plants 
are up three inches high, thin them to three inches, and after- 
wards, for the daily supply, to eight inches apart. The beds 
should be carefully weeded, care being taken not to disturb the 
earth much or raise it round the plants, which will prevent them 
forming their bulbs properly. When the leaves begin to loose 
their color, lay down the crop by bending the stems down flat, just 
above the bulb. This process will check the growth of the stem, 
and afford nourishment to the bulb. Onions should be taken up 
the first of autumn, spread thinly on the ground, and turned over 
once or twice a day until thoroughly dried, and then stored away 
in any dry, airy situation. If spread thickly, they must still be 
turned occasionally, or they may be strung or hung up in nets. 
