KITCHEN-GARDEN VEGETABLES. 
February to the middle of March is the usual 
period; but should the ground be either frozen 
or covered with snow, or saturated with rain, 
then the first opportunity should be seized. 
In bad springs or in very cold situations the 
beginning of April would not be too late. 
The ground having been rendered friable, it 
should be dug over in the end of February or 
early in March, in small spits the full depth of 
the spade but narrow, each spit to be thoroughly 
broken before another is turned over. ‘The 
ground should not be made fine merely on the 
top, leaving the rest of the spit in coarse lumps, 
but the whole must be thoroughly broken. 
If the soil is light it should be trodden or 
_ rolled; and heavy soil should also be lightly 
rolled, if rather dry at the time, but not other- 
wise. In cold low-lying positions the ground 
may be marked off in 4-feet beds, with 1-foot 
paths between. The drills should then be drawn 
8 inches apart, or 12 inches for the large sorts. 
As a rule the plan of sowing quite on the 
level and in drills 12 inches apart answers well, 
and is much the simplest. In order to have 
well-formed sound-keeping Onions, the seeds 
cannot be too near the surface, so long as they 
are just covered. The seeds, if good—and this 
ought to be previously ascertained—should be 
sown thinly along the drills, then covered with 
a little finely-broken soil, and trodden, smoothed. 
with the rake, or rolled with a roller of greater 
or less weight, according to the nature of the 
soil, for the lighter it is the more it should be 
pressed. In many cases a roller may not be at 
command; if so, the surface of the bed should 
be pressed with the back of the spade. 
Instead of drawing drills, the line may be 
stretched, and a round straight rod, about 3 
inch in diameter, laid alongside of it, then by 
treading or otherwise pressing down the rod, 
a groove of uniform depth, smooth and firm at 
bottom, will be formed. In this the seeds can 
be regularly sown, and covered with a little 
mould. The advantage of this system is that 
all the seeds will be near the surface, whereas 
when drills are drawn in the ordinary way, some 
seeds drop into holes, and from being too deeply 
buried are apt to produce thick necks. 
After sowing, weeding, thinning, and watering 
are all that is necessary till the crop is mature 
or nearly so. It will be observed that the plant 
does not come up with an erect point, but is 
doubled like a whip, and as it advances in growth 
the point gets clear of the soil. Very soon after 
this takes place the surface of the ground should 
be hoed in order to cut up all seedling weeds, 
Vou. IL. 
469 
and at the same time the Onions should be 
thinned with a small 2-inch-broad hoe. The first 
thinning ought to be partial in case of failure. 
Hoeing and weeding should be repeated as often 
as may be necessary. Although the surface of 
the soil should be hoed in order to destroy 
weeds, and although the growth of the young 
plants may be promoted by the shallow stirring 
requisite for that purpose, yet the deep loosening 
of the soil, so beneficial for many crops, is not 
so for Onions. The best-tormed and soundest 
bulbs are grown where the surface is rather firm 
than loose. It has frequently been observed 
that where the soil of the beds has been loose, 
the best Onions were those which sprung from 
seeds accidentally dropped on the paths. 
The final thinning should be to the distance 
of from 4 to 6 inches in the row, according to 
the richness of the soil and the size which the 
variety attains. If very large Onions are re- 
quired, the drills may be 15 inches asunder, and 
the plants thinned to 9 inches in the row; and 
if the seeds are sown broadcast, each plant 
should be allowed from 5 to 8 inches square. 
When the weather is dry, watering in some 
cases is beneficial till the tops acquire a good 
size; but when there appears a disposition to 
form thick necks, a slight check from drought 
will assist in the formation of bulb, as also will 
twisting the necks so as to cause the tops to 
fall over. 
When the foliage begins to flag and the stems 
to bend, it is a sign that they have performed 
their part as regards the growth of the plant, 
and the first spell of dry weather should be 
| seized to pull up the bulbs; after heavy rain it 
would not be desirable to do so till several dry 
days have elapsed. But whatever may be the 
state of the weather, care should be taken to 
pull up the Onions before a second growth com- 
mences. Some idea of how Onions should be 
treated will be obtained from fig. 1226, repro- 
duced from a photograph. If wet weather should 
prevail, the best plan is to take the crop up, and 
lay it on a dry surface, sheltered from rain, but 
exposed to air and to whatever sunshine there 
may be. Onions when pulled are usually laid on 
the ground with their roots towards the south, in 
order that the sun’s rays may assist in withering 
them They should be turned over on a dry 
day, and when the surface of the ground is dry. 
In private gardens it is sometimes possible to 
lay the Onions on a dry gravel walk, or some 
other hard surface, and this is preferable to 
the cultivated ground. Anyway, they must be 
thoroughly harvested, if necessary, in a dry heat 
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