468 
than 18 inches from the path, as they will incline 
to grow most in that direction. Water should be 
given at planting, and afterwards all the care 
they will require is confined to watering fre- 
quently in dry weather. In gathering, the young 
tops and leaves should be pinched off; abun- 
dance of fresh ones are produced throughout 
the summer and autumn. Seeds may be saved 
by placing a plant or two in poor soil, in lime | 
rubbish, or by training them against a wall. In 
warm seasons, however, it ripens its seeds in the 
open ground. 
Onion (Allium Cepa).—A hardy biennial, a 
native of Central or Western Asia. The Jews 
had a city called Onion, built by Onias (B.c. 
173), near the Gulf of Suez, which existed for 
243 years, and it is not improbable that this 
vegetable, long used among the Egyptians 
and Jews, may have obtained in comparatively 
modern times the name which, with little varia- 
tion, in this and other European countries, it | 
still retains. | 
The uses of the Onion are universally known, 
and few plants have such a wide range of culti- 
vation; for it is grown from the tropics to the 
coldest verge of the temperate zone. The leaves 
and roots are of an annual nature, inasmuch 
as they die in the course of a single summer | 
after perfecting a bulb; the latter, however, is | 
biennial, and after a temporary rest it has the 
power of emitting new roots, pushing fresh 
leaves, and sending up a flower-stalk. In some 
cases it also forms offset bulbs. 
Soil.—Onions succeed best in an open situation, 
in rich loam. Good crops of Onions may also 
be obtained from soils of very different texture 
and quality, with the aid of suitable manures, 
and by judiciously varying the modes of culti- 
vation, according to circumstances. For the | 
spring crop, the ground should be ridged up_ 
before winter as roughly as possible. It should | 
not be disturbed in wet weather, nor whilst it 
is saturated with moisture; but when it is so 
dry that its lumps will crumble rather than 
stick together, it cannot be too much worked. 
If the soil is light, it should, in the first 
place, be finely dug, to ensure an equal looseness 
throughout, in order that, by subsequent tread- 
ing and rolling, it may be rendered uniformly 
compact. In such soils, good crops are obtained 
in wet seasons, but it is not merely the quantity 
that has to be taken into consideration, the 
quality, in such seasons more especially, is of 
still greater importance. If Onions are not well 
ripened, they cannot be expected to keep 
THE GARDENER’ ASSISTANT. 
soundly, and of course they will become better 
ripened in dry light soil, in a cold wet season, 
than in soil of a contrary description. If cireum- 
stances will permit, it is advisable to grow a 
portion of the crop on warm and rather dry 
Fig. 1225.—Onion—Sutton’s Al. 
soil, calculated to yield comparatively sounder 
produce than can be obtained from ground that 
is cold and wet. The soil should be well 
drained. If the subsoil is too retentive, the 
ground should be sub-trenched. When this is 
done there will be a free passage for air and 
moisture throughout the soil. 
Manures.—Pigeons’ dung has long been very 
generally employed as a manure for Onions, and 
it is one of the best. The dung of poultry, of 
sheep, and well-decomposed night-soil, are also 
excellent. Well-decomposed farmyard manure, 
if used fresh in large quantities for the preceding 
crop, or turned iato the ground before winter 
and thoroughly mixed with the soil previous to 
sowing, answers well. Guano may be used in 
the form of a liquid manure. Superphosphate 
of lime is good, especially in moist seasons, and 
where the soil is damp; and so is bone-dust. 
Salt, soot, and lime are useful as manure, and” 
also for preventing the attacks of the Onion 
maggot and other insects. Charcoal is some- 
times sprinkled along the drills with the view 
of preventing canker. Wood-ashes and charred 
rubbish are good along with other manures. The 
market-gardeners near London sow salt and soot 
along with the crop, and their crops of Onions 
are generally very fine. 
Spring-sown Onions.—The precise time of sow- 
ing the main crop cannot be stated, for it 
greatly depends on the state of the weather 
and the nature of the soil. From the middle of 
mite! 
