36 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



soundness through the winter than those 

 raised from seed in a single season." 

 Knight's mode of planting these was the 

 same as our own — namely, to set them at 

 ten inches from each other, or when in 

 lines, twelve inches apart and eight inches 

 in the line, the ground being prepared 

 as above recommended for spring and 

 autumn sown crops — setting the bulbs, 

 however, on the surface, and drawing as 

 much soil over them as will maintain 

 them in their places until they attach 

 themselves by their roots to the ground ; 

 after which, as in the case of shallots, &c, 

 already noticed, the earth is removed 

 from them, and the bulbs are exposed to 

 air and light. This practice, or that of 

 saving all the very smallest from the 

 previous crop, has been followed by some 

 of the market-gardeners round London 

 for ages. It is rarely practised in pri- 

 vate gardens — why, we know not. 



The fine large Portugal onions which 

 we see in the shops are imported from 

 that country annually. They are indis- 

 pensable in the kitchens of the great, 

 being much milder, as well as being of 

 a much larger size, than can be produced 

 in any quantity in this country. They 

 are grown upon a somewhat similar prin- 

 ciple to that noticed above ; the method 

 is sufficiently interesting to warrant our 

 making the following quotation from 

 "The Transactions of the Horticultural 

 Society," vol. iii. p. 68 : " Sow the seed 

 very thinly in November or December 

 on a moderate hotbed in a warm situation, 

 with a few inches of rich light loam upon 

 it, and the plants protected from frost by 

 mats and hoops. In April or May, when 

 they are about the size of a large swan's 

 quill, they are transplanted on a rich 

 light loam well manured with well-rotten 

 dung. The mode of transplanting is 

 particular. The plants are laid flat, 

 about nine inches asunder each way, in 

 quincunx, the beard (fibres) of the root 

 and part only of the plant covered with 

 very rich mould, well mixed with two- 

 thirds of good old rotten dung. This 

 compost is slightly pressed down on the 

 plant j water is given, when the weather is 

 dry, until the plants have taken root. 

 Subsequently, the earth is occasionally 

 broken around them by slight hoeing, in 

 which operation care is taken not to 

 wound the bulb. Weeding is diligently 



attended to, and the watering continued 

 according to the state of the weather. 

 In Portugal the means of irrigation are 

 easy, the effects of which are particularly 

 beneficial to the onion ; for, by letting 

 the water filter or pass through small 

 heaps of dung placed in the alleys of the 

 beds, a very rich liquid flows in upon the 

 plants. The dung, as it is exhausted or 

 washed away, should be renewed, and the 

 water must be checked in its current, so 

 that it may gently spread over the sur- 

 face." This mode has been successfully 

 tried in some parts of England upon very 

 warm borders. In our present state of 

 advancement we would apply liquid ma- 

 nure in a much more convenient manner, 

 and there is no means of enrichment so 

 beneficial to the alliaceous tribe as ad- 

 ministering it in a liquid state. 



We have already observed that the 

 drill system is preferable to the broadcast 

 order of sowing. This, however, applies 

 more to private gardens than to commer- 

 cial ones, or even to those whose onion-bed 

 does not exceed two or three square yards. 

 Although, in many of our first-rate mar- 

 ket-gardens, the drill system is pursued, 

 still by far the most adhere to the old plan 

 of dividing the ground into three-feet-and- 

 a-half or four-feet beds, and sow promis- 

 cuously over them, and trust to hand- 

 weeding for the suppression of weeds. In 

 this they do not err, because, from the 

 time the young plants are three or four 

 inches in height (up to which time they 

 do not injure each other), a constant sys- 

 tem of thinning is going on — the thin- 

 nings meeting with a ready sale in the 

 market ; so that the crop is in due time 

 sufficiently thinned to enable those left 

 to attain their full size ; — sowing in drills 

 is therefore to them of less importance. 

 We hold it essential in all well-kept 

 private gardens. Treading the ground 

 after the seed is sown is advisable in very 

 light soils ; if dry at the time, it tends to 

 consolidate it to a proper consistency. 

 To do so, however, in strong soils, parti- 

 cularly when wet, is injurious. It cakes 

 the surface, and renders it more difficult 

 for the young plant to push its way 

 through. To those who prefer the broad- 

 cast mode of sowing in beds, a better 

 plan cannot be recommended them than 

 that practised by Mr Smith of Pitfour. 

 The ground being dug, the manure is laid 



