THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
247 
all for the onions. But if a heavy crop of onions is desired, and the 
ground on which they are to be sown was not heavily manured for 
the previous ci’op, a sprinkling of guano' or bone-dust will be re- 
quired, or a good layer of rotten stable-dung must be put in between 
the two spits as the ground is trenched. We repeat that we take 
heavy crops of the finest possible bulk by digging one spit deep, 
and refreshing the soil with a thin sprinkling of phospho-guano, and 
know nothing of grub or any other impediment to success, save and 
except the weather; and as we trust to the autumn sowing for main 
crops, we generally have the crop ripened early and perfectly. All 
carbonaceous manures are particularly good for onions ; hence, it is 
well to save for them the sweepings of chimneys, the finer stuff from 
a smother, in which, of course, there is much fine charcoal ; and the 
finer parts of lime and plaster rubbish that may result from 
building operations. Any of these substances may be dug in as the 
ground is prepared, and it will be an additional advantage to the 
crop if some of them, more especially the soot, is spread over the 
surface after the seed is sown. In the books the use of soot as a 
top-dressing is advised ; but the writers all agree in recommending 
that it be spread before sowing, which is a mistake, for it is more 
efl'ectual if put on afterwards thick enough to make the ground 
quite black. 
Sowing and Summer Culture. — Prepare the bed by breaking 
up the soil well, for the onion will not thrive amongst clods, or on a 
very wet or very dry staple. The beds should be in an open sunny 
situation, four and a half feet wide, and the seed should be sown in 
drills across, so as to facilitate the action of the hoe between them. 
We never mark off beds, in the proper sense of the word, but sow 
lengthwise of the piece in drills six to twelve inches asunder, and 
walk between the rows when the hoe is used. The drills should be 
drawn carefully to the line, and be fully one inch deep. Sow the 
seed as thinly as possible, cover with the back of the rake, and tread 
the rows firmly. The time for sowing is from Pebruary to May, and 
from the last week in July to the first week in October. We find 
that t-wo sowings are sufldcient for all ordinary purposes, the most 
important sowing being made in the early part of August, and the 
other in the latter days of March, or as early as possible in the 
month of April. 
As soon as the plant is well above ground, thinning should 
commence, and the spring-sowm onions should be thinned earlier 
and more severely than those sown in autumn. A little judgment 
is needed in this work, and it may be exercised to the advantage of 
those who love young onions, for by successive careful thinnings, 
supplies of tender, sweet, small salad onions may be obtained nearly 
the whole year round from two sowings only, for just as the last 
thinning of the autumn-sown takes place, the spring-sown will be 
ready for use. The final distance for a good useful crop is six 
inches, but on a somewhat poor soil they should be left at four 
inches apart, for they ripen better wdien they jostle each other, and 
to do onions well the ground towards the end of the season should 
literally be paved with them. Ply the hoe between whenever weeds 
August. 
