VEGETABLE GROWING 319 



green table onions so desirable in the early part of the 

 season, while the seed is used to grow the main crop for 

 fall and winter use. Onions from sets are easily and 

 quickly grown, but the crop grown from the seeds requires 

 special attention. 



They are sown thickly in the row ; and as soon as the 

 little plants have pushed above the soil far enough to be 

 seen, they should be thinned out. As beginners, it will 

 perhaps be well for us to confine our efforts to raising 

 onions from sets. Only by strict attention to the soil, 

 which must be loose, rich and cool, by much tedious labor 

 in thinning, and by close and frequent cultivation, may 

 we expect to raise a crop of onions from the seed. 



Parsnips. — These vegetables also revel in a cool, loose, 

 deep soil, in which their long, tapering roots may develop 

 without branching. The seed may be sown as soon as the 

 soil is warm in the spring and will occupy the ground 

 throughout the entire summer. In fact, most parsnips 

 are allowed to remain in the ground all winter as freezing 

 does not injure them. However, if one wants parsnips 

 for winter use, they must be dug in the fall and stored, 

 preferably in moist sand in a cool cellar. In planting 

 parsnips, as in the case of carrots, it is advisable to mark 

 the row by planting a few radish seeds in it. The distances 

 between the rows and between the plants in the row are 

 the same as those between carrots. 



Potatoes. — You will notice by the home garden plan 

 shown in Figure 144, that only early potatoes were included, 

 and these were to be removed as soon as they were large 

 enough to be eaten, after which the space was to be de- 

 voted to celery. If enough potatoes are to be raised to 

 supply the entire family throughout the year, they should 

 usually be planted in a space outside the garden where they 

 may be cultivated by horse power. 



