20 



was used. The true sett is an onion that has been checked 

 in its annual gi'owth and dried down before it has matured, — 

 hence it has an additional growth to make before its annual 

 growth is matured, and before this there can be no seed shoot 

 pushed, for the onion is a biennial plant and the seed shoot 

 belongs to the second year of its growth. 



Setts are planted in rows about ten inches apart, and two 

 or three inches distant in the row. As the ground worms are 

 very apt to remove them when first planted, the bed should 

 be occasionally examined. Some roll them immediately after 

 planting, others hold to dropping them in shallow drills, not 

 covering them at all with earth. 



Onion setts var}^ in size from a pea to a hazel-nut. The 

 smaller the size of the setts, the greater the number of onions 

 contained in a given quantity ; but many find it for their 

 interest to purchase setts of a good size, as they yield larger 

 onions. Among the market-gardeners in the vicinity of the 

 large cities onion setts are ver}^ extensively planted, some 

 planting as high as one hundred and fifty bushels annually. 

 The quantity planted per acre varies with the size, from six 

 to ten bushels. 



RARERIPES. 



Rareripes are onions raised by planting out biilbs of the 

 growth of the previous season. The Rareripe oftentimes dif- 

 fers from the onion sett only in being a matured onion, as 

 frequently they are about as small as the setts. The method 

 of raising them is the same as that of raising early onions 

 from setts, with the difference of planting them at times at 

 greater distance apart in the row proportionate vrith their 

 greater size. The raising of Rareripes is a very profitable way 

 of disposing of such onions as are badly sprouted, are very 



