38 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



weed. The purpose of hoeing is twofold, 

 in all cases save that of a gravel walk, 

 whereon such an operation should, if pos- 

 sible, never be allowed. Hoeing keeps 

 down weeds while in their cotyledon 

 state, that being the most proper time to 

 attack them ; it keeps the surface of the 

 ground open, and renders it pervious to 

 the rays of heat and to air. Weeding only 

 removes the evil after it has too long 

 existed; in the process the ground is 

 trodden to a hard surface, and unless im- 

 mediately loosened by the hoe, it is ren- 

 dered next to impervious to heat and air. 

 The hoe, therefore, should be used at 

 once, and one operation thus be made to 

 do, instead of two. The best hoe, when 

 deep - stirring the soil between drilled 

 crops is performed, is the Spanish hoe, 

 fig. 2, or the Vernon hoe, fig. 3; the former 



Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 



VERNON HOE. 



an implement much employed in the 

 West Indies for deep-stirring the sugar 

 crops. The flat or common hoe is only 

 useful for cutting down weeds ; and as it 

 is in general used, it does do little more ; 

 whereas the deep-stirring of the soil is of 

 the greatest importance, and can only be 

 efficiently performed by such an imple- 

 ment as the hoe referred to. Here we 

 see the great advantage of the drill sys- 

 tem over the broadcast method of sowing. 

 Thinning the crop should be attended to 

 as a principle, and, unless in petty gar- 

 dens, dependence should not be placed 

 on the removal of superfluous plants for 

 daily consumption ; it is better to thin 

 the general crop, and leave a row or two 

 for daily use. The London market- gar- 

 deners thin their broadcast sown crops as 

 soon as they appear above ground, by 

 using small 2-inch hoes, kept exceedingly 

 sharp and clean. 



Soil and manures. — Onions require a 

 deep, rich, mellow soil, always kept in a 

 high state of enrichment by the appli- 

 cation of such stimulants as guano, 



blood, salt, soot, the offal of a slaughter- 

 house, superphosphate of lime, at the time 

 of sowing. But where the ground has been 

 highly manured for the previous crop, 

 such as celery, it is better to depend on 

 that, with the addition of liquid manure 

 where it can be applied, than on the re- 

 cent application of stable-yard manure, 

 unless in a state of great decomposition. 

 The London growers, however, seem to 

 put all danger from insects at defiance, 

 and manure heavily with the strongest 

 dungs, such as cow manure, nightsoil, &c. 

 They are seldom troubled with onion 

 grubs, or, indeed, with any other; and this, 

 they assert, is entirely owing to their 

 ground being turned so frequently and so 

 deeply over — thus, probably, preventing 

 the insects from undergoing the various 

 transformations which most of them have 

 to pass through. Neither are they very 

 particular as to the change of soil, or what 

 is called the rotation of crops, for we have 

 seen abundant crops of onions on ground 

 from which three and four successive ones 

 of that vegetable have been taken. To 

 ordinary cultivators this may appear ano- 

 malous, as it is also contrary to the prin- 

 ciples of vegetable physiology: it does, 

 nevertheless, occur in their practice, and 

 they ascribe it simply to their ground be- 

 ing in the highest state of fertility, and in 

 the highest state of cultivation ; and they 

 maintain that private gardens are neither 

 the one nor the other. 



Forcing. — The onion is forced during 

 winter in many large gardens, being used 

 in a very young state as an ingredient 

 in salads. The seed is sown thickly in 

 shallow boxes in light sandy soil: rich soil 

 is not necessary, as the crop is gathered 

 when the plants are little larger than 

 an ordinary-sized needle. A very small 

 quantity only is daily required, to give 

 some idea of which we may mention that, 

 when gathered and washed (for all salads 

 should be prepared before leaving the 

 garden — but of this more anon), with the 

 leaves and fibres entire, the supply for the 

 day will be a small bundle about the size of 

 a man's finger. Boxes, therefore, or square 

 earthenware pans (the latter of which we 

 use), about 1 8 inches square and 4 inches 

 deep, if sown every third or fourth day, 

 and placed in a pit, or on a suspended shelf 

 in a vinery where the temperature ranges 

 from 45° to 60°, will be a very fitting 



