250 
THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
possible. He selects soft and balf-spent bulbs, that are not good 
enough for roasting, and if they produce seed it is of poor quality, 
and will not produce handsome bulbs. At the end of February the 
finest bulbs obtainable should be planted in poor soil, a foot apart 
each way, and so deep that the necks are just covered. Keep them 
clear of weeds, and before they come into flower provide them with 
rails attached to posts, to which tie them to prevent their destruc- 
tion by storms. Stout tarred string will answer, but rails are better 
if the heads are large. Cut the heads as soon as they become 
brownish, and lay them on cloths in the sun to finish. Our mode of 
saving onion seed is to lay some large bell-glasses hollow side up- 
wards on tlie stage of a sunny greenhouse, and as the heads are cut 
they are throAvn in. In the course of a few days the seed is found 
clean and ripe at the bottom, having shelled itself out without giving 
a moment’s trouble. Nine-tenths of all the small seeds grown may 
be saved in this simple manner. The books say, “ it is of the utmost 
consequence to employ seed of not more than one year old, other- 
wise scarcely one in fifty will vegetate.” This is nonsense, for we 
have oftentimes obtained as fine crops from seed four years old as 
from that of the previous year. However, we do not recommend 
old seed, for it is generally agreed that onion seed should not be 
kept any great length of time, and things commonly agreed on are 
usually founded on observation and experience. 
The Potato Onion is a serviceable cottage garden root, but of 
comparatively small importance to those who cultivate a kitchen- 
garden in a systematic manner. It is the rule in the West of Eng- 
land to plant the bulbs on the shortest day, and take them up on the 
longest. They may, however, be planted as late as March, but as 
they keep badly, the earlier they are in the ground the better. They 
require the ground to be well dug and in good heart. The rows 
should be one foot asunder, and the bulbs six inches apart in the 
row, and the best way to plant is to lay down the line and insert the 
bulbs with the aid of a dibber, every bulb being planted deep enough 
to have a firm grip in the soil without being quite covered. The hoe 
should be plied frequently between the rows, but in such a manner 
as not to inflict any injury on the roots, and a mere skin of earth 
may be drawn to the base of the green blade once or twice during 
the summer. 
The Tree Onion produces a double crop, one consisting of small 
bulbs at the top of the tall stem, the other of large bulbs -similar to 
those of the potato onion, at the root. Both root and top bulbs may 
be planted for a crop, but the root bulbs are the best. Treat in pre- 
cisely the same way as the potato onion, but do not plant before the 
end of February, for if a severe frost occurs the roots may be de- 
stroyed. As soon as the stems rise, provide laths or tarred rope, or 
some other cheap and rough support for them, for if they lay on the 
ground slugs and snails will eat through the stem, and the develop- 
ment of the top bulbs will be ari’ested. When the stems begin to 
turn yellowg cut them close over the ground, and lay them with their 
crowns untouched ou boards or cloths in the sun to dry, and after a 
few days tie them in bundles, and suspend them in a dry loft or 
