I 



ONIONS. 123 



pounds per acre. The seed sower should be carefully tested on 



a floor or other smooth surface before using it in the field to see 

 how it works. It is very important to know the germinating 

 qualities of the seed sown, since if it is of low germination more 

 must be used than if it is of best quality. Ninety per cent of 

 good onion seed ought to germinate if the conditions are favor- 

 able. It is important to closely study these matters, as it is de- 

 sirable to have the land well stocked with plants and yet not 

 over stocked. It is better to fail of getting quite so much seed on 

 the land as is desired than it is to get very much more than is 

 wanted, for in the first case the onions, although somewhat 

 scattering, will be of good size, while if the plants are too thick 

 they must be thinned out, or the onions will be small and in- 

 ferior. The work of thinning onions on a large scale is a very 

 expensive operation, and every precaution should be taken to 

 avoid having to do it. If the seed is sown only a little thicker 

 than the plants ought to stand, it is sometimes a good plan in- 

 stead of thinning them out, to put on an extra dressing of some 

 quick-acting, easily-applied manure, such as hen manure, which 

 will probably make it possible for the land to mature the whole 

 crop in good shape. Onions have the quality of crowding out 

 to the sides of the rows and on top of one another, so that they 

 may grow pretty thick and still be of good size, providing other 

 conditions are favorable to their development. It is important 

 to have the seed sown in straight rows. If the first row is laid 

 off with a line or otherwise made straight, the subsequent rows 

 are easily made parallel to it by means of the marker on the 

 seed sower. If there are found to be some vacancies in the 

 rows after the onions appear, these may be filled by sowing 

 onion seed in them by hand; late in the season such vacancies 

 may be sown with carrot seed. 



Cultivation. — As soon as the plants commence to break the 

 surface soil, cultivation should be commenced with a hand cul- 

 tivator that will work both sides of the row at one time and 

 throw a little earth from the plant; hand weeding should fol- 

 low at once. At the second hoeing, the plants being now pretty, 

 strong, the soil should be cultivated somewhat deeper. This 

 will enable a careful man to work the soil very close to the 

 plants. Onions naturally grow in the surface of the land and 



