640 



The Cultivation of Onions. [nov., 



manures recommended are salt and potash. For a light soil, 

 weak in potash, kainit at the rate of 5 cwt. to the acre may be 

 added with advantage. 



The land should be forked and reduced to a fine tilth. The 

 surface should be then lightly raked, and the land is ready 

 for sowing. 



Sowing and After-Cultivation. — A day should be chosen 

 when the land is dry and workable. The seed should be 

 sown thinly in drills about 9 in. apart and an inch in depth. 

 The seed thus required will be from 5 to 7 lb. per acre, 

 depending upon the variety. The seed must be raked in 

 lightly, and the back of the rake is sometimes used for this 

 purpose. The ground should then be rolled, and again 

 directly the plants are up in the rows, if the w r eather is dry. 

 Another dressing of soot or one of nitrate of soda is sometimes 

 recommended at this point. Hoeing lightly is advisable to 

 check seedling weeds and to sweeten the surface soil. 



As soon as the plants are large enough to handle, they may 

 be thinned out as required, leaving a space of from 4 to 

 6 inches between the plants. The labour of this operation 

 is often reduced by cross-hoeing. If the plants are still too 

 dense, thinning out by hand should be resorted to, though 

 this is rare in good cultivation for market purposes. 



The hoe should be kept constantly in use, to prevent the 

 growth of weeds. In a damp season, when the tops appear 

 to be making too much growth, it is advisable to bend them 

 over with the hoe handle or something similar. Towards the 

 middle of August it is advisable to determine, by pulling up 

 a few bulbs, whether the crop is ready for gathering. If such 

 be the case, the roots will be noticed to have withered. This 

 prevents the possibility of what is known as second growth, 

 namely, that of the new bud, lying between the swollen leaf 

 bases of the bulb. , 



Gathering and Storage. — Having determined, in the way 

 mentioned above, when the crop is ready, the gathering 

 should be done on the first fine dry day. A few rows are 

 pulled, and the bulbs allowed to lie. Then the few rows on 

 either side of these are pulled, and the bulbs from the outside 

 rows placed with those lying in the centre, so that one gets 

 alternate alleys of drying onions and of bare land. 



