ONION SETS OR BUTTON ONIONS. 23 



demand will do most for settling this point. Aside from this, 

 I would recommend the Early Yellow and the Red Globe 

 Danvers, as, on the whole, the most desirable sort. The Red 

 Globe is somewhat hardier than the Danvers. 



ONION SETS OR BUTTON ONIONS. 

 TT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED that in that portion of the 

 ••■ United States south of the vicinity of New-York Cityj 

 onions from seed raised as far south as the Middle States 

 cannot be relied on to mature the iirst year, owing to the 

 extreme heat of the climate forcing the formation of the bulb, 

 and drying down the top quite early in the season. But if 

 the seed was grown in the Northern States from carefully 

 selected stock, it will mature onions the first season when 

 planted in the Southern States, as I learn from several of 

 my correspondents, some of whom have grown them of 

 market size the first season as far south as Texas. As a 

 rule, such onions are hardly as large as those grown farther 

 north, but yet amply large enough for market. To give the 

 rule, concisely, if gardeners in the South wish to raise onions 

 from the black seed so that they will grow to market size the 

 first season, they should procure seed grown as far north as 

 possible ; and vice versa, gardeners in the North who wish to 

 grow their own sets should procure Southern-grown seed. 

 If, in these southern latitudes, two years are given to the 

 maturing oi the crop, the first year, the ground is prepared as 

 already directed, excepting that it is but lightly manured ; 

 broad, shallow drills, from one to two inches in width, are 

 made about ten inches apart, and these are sown early in 

 spring, very thickly, on rather poor land, at the rate of from 

 thirty to sixty pounds to the acre ; the crop becomes ma- 

 ture in July, when it is pulled, and stored in cool, airy lofts. 



