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ferve the Ground clean a Month 

 longer, when you muft hoe them 

 over the third and laft time. 



You muft now carefully cut up 

 all Weeds, and fingle out the Onions 

 to near five or fix Inches fquare ; by 

 which means they will grow much 

 larger than if left too clofe. This 

 time of Hoeing, if the Weather 

 proves dry, and it is well perform'd, 

 will keep the Ground clean until 

 the Onions are fit to pull up : but if 

 the Weather mould prove moilt, and 

 any of the Weeds mould take Root 

 again, you mould, about a Fort- 

 night or three Weeks after, go over 

 the Spot, and draw out all the large 

 Weeds with your Hands; for the 

 Onions having now begun to bulb, 

 they mould not be difturbed with an 

 Hoe. 



Toward the Middle or Latter-end 

 of Ju/y, your Onions will have ar- 

 rived to their full Growth, which 

 may be known by their Blades fall- 

 ing to the Ground, and fhrinking : 

 you lhould therefore, before their 

 Necks or Blades are withered off, 

 draw them out of the Ground, crop- 

 ping off the extreme Part of the 

 Blade, and lay them abroad upon a 

 dry Spot of Ground to dry, observ- 

 ing to turn them over every other 

 Day, at lead, to prevent their ftrike- 

 ing frefh Root mto the Ground ; 

 which they will fuddenly do, efpe- 

 cially in moift Weather. 



In about a Fortnight's time your 

 Onions will be dry enough to houfe, 

 which mult be performed in perfedt 

 dry Weather : in doing of this, you 

 muft carefully rub off ali the Earth, 

 and be fure to mix no faulty ones 

 among them, which will in a fhort 

 time decay, and fpoil ail thofe that 

 lie near them ; nor mould you lay 

 them too thick in the Houfe, which 

 would occafion their fweating, and 

 thereby rot them : thefe mould not 



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be put in a lower Room, or Ground- 



floor, but in a Loft or Garret ; and 

 the clofer they are kept from the 

 Air, the better they will keep. You 

 mould, at leaft, once a Month look 

 over them to fee if any of them are 

 decayed ; which, if you find, muft 

 be immediately taken away, other- 

 wife they will infect all that lie near 

 them. 



The beft Onions for keeping are 

 the Strafiurg Kind, which is an oval- 

 Ihaped Bulb ; but this feldom grows 

 fo large as the Spanijb, which is flat- 

 ter : the white Sort is efteemed the 

 fweeteft ; but thefe Varieties are not 

 lading ; for if you fave Seeds of 

 white Onions only, you will have a 

 Mixture of the red ones among 

 them ; nor will the Strajlurg Onion 

 keep long to its Kind, but will by 

 degrees grow flatter, as do the large 

 Portugo.l Onions, when planted in 

 our Climate, which, in a Year or 

 two, will be fo far degenerated as 

 not to be known they were from 

 that Race. 



But, in order to preferve Seeds, 

 you muft in the Spring make choice 

 of fome of the firmeft, largeft, and 

 oval-lhaped Onions (in Quantity pro- 

 portionable to the Seed you intend 

 to fave) ; and having prepared a 

 Piece of good Ground (which lhould 

 be well dug, and laid out in Beds 

 about three Feet wide), in the Be- 

 ginning of March you muft plant 

 your Onions, in the following man- 

 ner : Having ftrained a Line about 

 four Inches within the Side of the 

 Bed, you muft, with a Spade, throw 

 out an Opening about fix Inches 

 deep, the Length of the Bed, jj^to 

 which you lhould place the Onions, 

 with their Roots downward, at about 

 fix Inches Diftance from each other ; 

 then with a Rake draw the Earth 

 into the Opening again to cover the 

 Bulbs j then proceed to remove the 



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