Hints on Vegetable and Fruit Farming. 79 
to its destination on a truck, and brought back full of manure. 
190 dozen of cabbages can be piled upon these vans, which are 
drawn by two powerful horses. About 1000 dozens of cabbages 
are produced per acre on an average, and the price ranges from 
Id. to I5. 4(Z. per dozen, and even higher occasionally. Cabbages 
also are planted in the spring for late summer or early autumn 
cutting. 
OxiONS are a most paying crop, though more risky than cab- 
bages, being liable to mildew, and entailing more outlay for 
labour. It is not well to crop the same field with onions more 
than once in five years. They may be taken after spring-sown 
cabbages, or mangolds, or carrots ; or, as is done in Essex, cucum- 
bers, which only stay in the ground a few weeks, are taken after 
spring cabbages, and onions follow the cucumbers. For onions 
it is required that the ground should be well worked, but at 
the same time it must have a fairly firm surface. If they are 
for seeding, or for pulling early, for which a sort known as the 
" two-bladed " is the best, it is better that the farmyard-manure 
should be scuffled in, and not buried by the plough. About 
60 lbs. of seed are sown broadcast and harrowed lightly in, as 
early as possible in the spring, so that there may be no danger 
of frosts, which much injure the tender shoots. 
Pickle-makers make contracts with growers for onions, and a 
considerable amount of labour is required to pull them and peel 
them. If onions are intended for "bulbing," that is for large 
bulbs for storing, very much less seed is sown. It is an 
expensive process to keep the ground free from weeds where 
pickling or salad onions are grown, costing from 4Z. to 5/. per 
acre. The gross return in exceptionally good years amounts to 
150/. per acre, as was shown in the Report on the Market-garden 
Farm Competition in 1879.* Lisbon onions are sown in the 
autumn for " bunching." About 50 lbs. of seed are sown broad- 
cast upon well-manured and well-prepared land ; the onions are 
pulled in May and June, and are sent to market in bundles 
containing as many as a man can hold in his hand arranged in 
a fanlike shape, packed in layers in baskets for salads and for 
eating in the way in which labourers so enjoy them, raw with 
bread and cheese. These return, in good seasons, as much as 
from 50Z. to 70/. per acre. 
Careots are also a favourite crop of market-garden farmers, 
who grow them upon a large scale, and it is not uncommon to 
see fields of seven and even ten acres planted with them. 
Gardeners who live near towns often make a good thing by 
* ' Report upon the Market-garden and Market-garden Farm Competition, 
1879,' by Charles Whitehead. 'Journal of the Eoyal Agricultural Society,' 
vol. XV. S.3. Part II. 
