THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
249 
begin to sprout before the winter is half gone ; whereas, by better 
management, the whole may be kept nearly the same length of time, 
this, of course, depending in a great measure on the keeping proper- 
ties of the variety. The proper way to harvest the crop is to draw 
the roots as fast as they ripen, and lay them on mats or boards in 
the sun, and take them under cover at night and during wet weather. 
By this treatment every separate plant is humoured, and the trouble 
is no greater ; at all events, the more uniform and perfect ripening 
secured will more than compensate for any little extra labour occa- 
sioned. As they become thoroughly well dry and shrivelled at the 
neck, they may be put in nets, or bags, or wicker baskets, and 
temporarily stored in a drj shed in the full light, and on wet days 
they may be roped and hung to the rafters to supply the kitchen or 
market as required. 
It may happen that just as the crop is ripening, and should be 
lifted, dull rainy weather will set in. As to what is to be done in 
such case, each one must judge for himself, but a general advice 
may be given to this effect — that, as the crop is too valuable to be 
lost without a struggle, it would in such a case be prudent to take 
it up, and cut off the blades four inches above the neck, and put the 
whole of the bulbs in a cooling oven, with the door open, and repeat 
the process three or four times, at intervals of a day or two, to 
compel them to ripen. If it be asked what should be the tempera- 
ture of the oven, we can safely give a wide range, for it must be 
above 60° and it may be below 100°, but an average of 80° may be 
considered the proper temperature. When onions are stored in 
dark houses, they should be on ropes, or very thinly spread on 
shelves. If the household demands large onions late in the spring, 
a sufficient number of large bulbs of late keeping sorts should be 
seared at the neck and the base with a hot iron, but it must not be 
so hot as to scorch the place it touches. 
Diseases and Insect Enemies. — We have never had on our 
ground any serious disaster with the onion crop, and, therefore, per- 
haps, cannot properly advise on the prevention or cure of diseases, 
or the extermination of insects that attack the onion. Some years 
ago we prepared some seed-beds for onions on a plot of old garden 
ground we had just taken, and in respect of which we were informed 
that it abounded with every possible grub, worm, and fly that wages 
war with the gardener. When the beds were ready for sowing, we 
gave them a heavy watering with sulphuric acid diluted with thirty 
times its bulk of water, and sowed the seed the next day. The 
result was a wonderful crop of onions, but whether the acid killed 
the vermin or simply enriched the ground by acting on its stony 
constituents we never took pains to inquire. We have sometimes 
seen a grub or two, or rather have noticed the blade fall over here 
and there as though there was something wrong, and have at once 
watered the crop with a solution of nitrate of soda, half-a-pound to 
the gallon, and that appeared to stop the plague. There is not a 
more certain or healthy plant grown than the onion, that is, of 
course, when it is grown properly. 
Seed may be raised easily, but the cottagers’ rule is the worst 
August. 
