60 
Mustard—Onions* 
seed should be soaked a few hours in warm 
milk and water, with a little soot in it. Put six 
or eight seeds in a hill, and cover half an inch 
deep. When the plants become strong and 
thrifty, so as to be out of danger, pull out the 
weakest, leaving only two in each hill; indeed 
one would always be sufficient, if secure from 
all accidents. The ground should be often hoed 
round the hills, and kept loose and light. If 
you would raise good melons, you must plant 
them remote from any other vines; for in the 
vicinity of cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins, 
gourds and the like, they will infallibly degen¬ 
erate. In this respect, therefore, they require 
great care and attention. To secure them from 
insects, pursue the directions given for cucumbers. 
Mustard. —The white and broad-leaf kinds 
are excellent for salad or greens. They should 
be sown very early in the spring, in a rich, 
warm soil, in shadow drills, ten inches apart, 
and kept clean from weeds. After the crop is 
off, the ground may be planted with cucumbers 
for pickling, or used for a succession of salad 
or radishes. The brown mustard seed is the 
best for grinding; it is a palatable and healthy 
condiment, and may be sown broad-cast or in 
drills, and kept clean from weeds. 
Onion.— Onions require a rich, mellow soil, 
rather moist and sandy or gravelly. A heavy 
clammy, or a dry clayey soil will not do for 
them. They grow well on alluvial soil, such 
as is' made by the overflowing of rivers and 
streams, or from the wash of hills. The ground 
requires to be well worked and made completely 
mellow bjr plowing and harrowing, and then 
raked over with an iron tooth rake, so as to 
break the clods and pulverize the soil. If not 
sufficiently rich, it may be made so by a plenti¬ 
ful supply of good manure, well rotted. Dung 
from the hog pen is considered the best manure 
for onions; though any rich and well rotted ma¬ 
nure will answer. The manuring must be re¬ 
peated annually; because cnions have a great 
tendency to impoverish the soil; but if well 
manured, they will do better on the same ground 
every year. The manure may be put on in the 
fall and plowed in. Plow the ground again in the 
spring, as early as it can be done after the frost 
is out. Work it over thoroughly, and prepare 
it for sowing as early as the season will admit. 
When the ground is sufficiently leveled and 
pulverized, stake out your rows, draw your gar¬ 
den line, and make your drills about 16 inches 
apart, so as to afford sufficient room for hoeing 
between the rows. The drills should not be 
more than an inch in depth; if the ground is 
moist, three-fourths of an inch will answer. 
The seed (if good! should be sowed sparingly. 
Many are very apt to put in too much seed, and 
of course, must thin out a large portion, or have 
a crop of small onions. Good seed, well put 
in, will not fail to come up well. After the 
seed is in, rake lightly over the drills, length¬ 
wise ; and when the seed is all covered, if you 
have a small light garden roller, (which should 
be kept in every garden,) draw it carefully over 
the bed from end to end of the rows, till the 
whole is rolled. If you have no roller, take a 
long board and lay it lengthwise on the rows 
and walk on it; then move it to the next row, 
and proceed on in this manner till the whole 
bed is pressed. This will make the seed come 
up more even and equal. 
When the onions are fairly up, the weeding 
and hoeing should be immediately attended to. 
If they are too thick, thin them out so as to let 
them stand two or three inches apart; but this 
should be carefully done, so as not to disturb 
those that remain. It is better to do the thin¬ 
ning by degrees, at each successive hoeing, ra¬ 
ther than all at once, as the little black grubs 
will sometimes thin them off too rapidly. The 
ground must be often hoed and kept clean of 
weeds, or they will not do well. 
Onions will sometimes run to scallions, hav¬ 
ing a thick, stocky neck and little or no bulb. 
To prevent this, some recommend breaking the 
tops down, when they have attained their full 
growth. But if the ground is suitable and well 
prepared; if good seed is sown, and properly 
cultivated, there is little danger of scallions ; 
besides it is not a very good practice to break 
the tops down. The onions will be ripe in Sep¬ 
tember. When the tops are sufficiently dry, 
pull the onions and let them lie a few days in 
the sun to dry; then gather them up and house 
them. They may be kept through the winter, 
by spreading them on shelves in a cool dry cel¬ 
lar. Some prefer bunching them up, which is 
a very good plan to keep them dry. A damp 
warm cellar will cause them to sprout and rot, 
which should be avoided. 
Parsley. —This plant should have a good 
rich soil, and may be sown at almost any time. 
For early spring use it is sometimes sown late | 
in the fall, and the ground covered with straw; 
it is also sown early in the spring—also in 
March, April, May or June. But as the seed 
vegetates slowly, it should be soaked in warm i 
water from twelve to twenty-four hours. In or¬ 
der to hasten vegetation, some recommend mix¬ 
ing sulphur with the water. If sown in the | 
spring and frequently cut, the plants shoot up 
more thick and stocky, and afford a plentiful 
supply through the whole season. It should be 
kept free from weeds. 
To b® continued. 
