124 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



sown quite thick, in pretty good soil, ancL not tliiuned out 

 at all. Little bulbs or sets will form about tlie size of the 

 button onion, which may be taken up when the tops die, 

 and preserved in a dry loft until time for preparing the 

 bed, and then may be planted, instead of the seed, eight 

 inches apart, in the drills. If they throw up a seed stalk, 

 it must be promptly broken off, or they will form iio bot- 

 toms. These sets, planted out early in the year, will 

 form fine large bulbs in May or June ; while those raised 

 from the seed, do not ripen until J uly. Hence the latter 

 are better keepers. Besides, they are better flavored, and 

 more solid. 



When the crop is ready for harvesting, it is known by 

 the drying up and change of color of the stems. 



To 'preserve them. — Pull them on a dry day, dry them 

 thoroughly in the shade, and stow them in a loft where they 

 can have plenty of air. When thoroughly dry, they can 

 be strung in ropes. From two to five hundred bushels 

 per acre is the usual crop. 



For seed. — Select the largest and finest bulbs and plant 

 out in the fall, about twelve inches apart, in beds of com- 

 mon garden soil, not too rich. Keep them free from weeds : 

 and when they throw up seed-stalks, support them by 

 poles laid horizontally on stakes, six or eight inches above 

 the surface of the beds. Home grown seed from good bulbs 

 is as good as the best imported. It will keep three years. 



Use. — Onions are among the most useful products of 

 the garden. They possess valuable medicinal properties, 

 and are used in colds and coughs as an expectorant. Rub- 

 bed on the skin, they are a good application for the sting 

 of a bee. But they are mostly used in cooking, and espe- 

 cially as a flavoring ingredient and seasoning for soups, 

 meats and sauces ; for which purpose they have been em- 

 ployed from time immemorial. They contain considerable 



