106 
PRUNING TREES. 
nature than those cultivated either in the northern 
parts of Europe or of the United States. 
Furthermore, the inhabitants of wanner climates, 
as in the tropics, who generally require their meats 
and soups highly seasoned, prefer onions ol the 
strongest flavor • while those of the more temper¬ 
ate and colder regions, who more frequently eat 
them served up with melted butter or white sauce, 
seek the opposite property, mild and sweet. Hence 
the importance of selecting varieties for cultivation, 
that are best suited for any particular market or use. 
Varieties —There are a multitude of varieties or 
sorts of onions in cultivation, among which, the 
following are recommended :— 
1. Blood-Red Strcisburg , or Weathersfield f a 
very hardy variety, of medium size, inclining to 
flat, valued for its long keeping and strong flavor. 
If is extensively cultivated in the eastern states for 
export to the West Indies and elsewhere. 
2. Large Yellow Strasburg , of an oval form, in¬ 
clining to flat, and of a strong flavor. It is hardy, 
productive, and keeps well, on which account it is 
highly prized. 
3. Silver-Skinned, or New England White , aflat 
variety, of medium size, esteemed for its delicate 
flavor, and is much used for pickling. This onion 
usually sells in the New York markets for prices 
one fourth higher than any other variety. 
4. White Spanish , Portugal , or Lisbon—very 
large, globular in form, mild in flavor, but will not 
keep well beyond the end of autumn or early 
winter. 
There are several other kinds of onions more or 
less cultivated, but none of them, in point of profit, 
will excel those described above. 
The Welsh onion ( Allium fistulosum ), is said to 
be a native of Siberia, and is most hardy in its na¬ 
ture. This species is a perennial, forming little or 
no bulb, dying down to the root, in winter, and put¬ 
ting forth new stalks every spring: whereas, all 
other cultivated sorts never endure beyond the sum¬ 
mer of the second year. The Welsh onion is 
usually propagated by seeds, sown in September, 
and when grown, are used as a salad early the next 
spring. 
The potato, or under-ground onion ( Allium tu¬ 
berosum ), which produces no seeds in a cultivated 
state, is a most hardy, prolific species, very mild 
in its quality, and possesses the advantage of per¬ 
fectly ripening its roots several weeks earlier than 
any other kind. It is propagated by planting the 
bulbs, in March or April, in rows eighteen inches 
apart, three inches below the surface, and six inches 
asunder, from bulb to bulb. The plants may be 
weeded and earthed up, as with potatoes, as they 
continue to grow ; and, in the course of the sum¬ 
mer, a quantity of new bulbs will be formed on 
each parent root, which may be used like those of 
the common kinds. 
The tree, Or bulb-topped onion ( Allium prolife- 
rum ), is said to have originated in Canada, where 
the climate is too cold for onions to flower and seed. 
The root, or bulb, when planted in the ground, 
throws up a stalk similar to that of the common 
onion the second season of its growth; but, instead of 
bearing seeds, it produces numerous small bulbs, 
in or among the umbel of flowers, which, if planted 
in the spring, will increase in size, and form toler¬ 
ably good onions, while the stalk supplies a suc¬ 
cession of bulbs for the next years planting. 
General Culture .—The soil most congenial to 
the growth of the onion, in general, is a deep, mel¬ 
low loam, resting on a dry bottom; and however 
rich it may be, it requires more or less manure for 
every crop. Although this vegetable is an excep¬ 
tion in the rotation of crops, and the same ground 
has been known annually to produce abundantly 
for forty or fifty years, it is deemed preferable, in 
cropping the kitchen garden, to succeed celery, as 
the soil in that state is thoroughly pulverized, and 
usually contains a considerable quantity of unspent 
manure. But even in this case, it is necessary to 
add a liberal coat of the best fermented dung. 
Previous to sowing, the ground should be well 
prepared by digging or plowing, and afterwards 
thoroughly levelled with a harrow or rake. A 
liberal dressing of very old barn-yard, or pig-sty 
manure, should then be slightly -worked in, and the 
ground raked even and compressed by a roller, or 
patted with a hoe; for. experience has shown, that 
the more the onion grows above the surface, the 
finer and better it will keep. The earlier this work 
is done in the spring, the better it will be for the 
crop: and in no case should the sowing be de¬ 
layed beyond the middle of April or the first of May. 
The ground being thus prepared, may next be 
divided into beds four feet wide, with one-foot alleys 
between, for garden culture, and then marked off in 
shallow drills, from seven to twelve inches apart, 
into which the seed may be thinly sown (say, half 
an inch apart), and firmly trodden in with the foot. 
Next, a small quantity of fine earth, from the 
alleys, may be sprinkled over the seed, and finally 
evened with a coarse-toothed rake. For field cui- 
ture, where many acres are to be seeded at one time, 
these beds may be evenly sown broad-cast, but not 
too thick, after which, they should be compressed 
by a roller, or trodden with the feet, and then slight¬ 
ly covered with fine earth from the alleys and 
levelled with a rake. In raking the beds, the teeth 
of the implement should he set wider apart than 
usual, otherwise the seed will be drawn into heaps 
and cause irregularity in the crop. 
In ordinary culture, four or five pounds of seed 
are sufficient to sow an acre ; but, in raising onions 
for pickling, double of these quantities will be re¬ 
quired, as it is desirable that the bulbs may be 
small, and consequently they may grow at less dis¬ 
tances apart. In the selection of seed, it is of the 
utmost importance to employ that which is no more 
than two years old, otherwise, often not more than 
one seed in fifty will come up. Its quality may 
easily he tested by forcing a little of it in a hot 
bed, or in warm water, a day or two before it is to be 
used * and if a small, white point should then 
appear, the seed may be pronounced as good. 
Pruning Trees. —It is now a well-established 
truth, that, when a young tree is in a vigorous state 
of growth, and the wood full of sap, just -previous 
to its having made any hard wood (say in June or 
July, inmost parts of the United States), any branch 
may be taken off, without injury. Therefore, at 
this stage of existence of the tree, pruning may be 
safely performed, giving its top that shape it is in¬ 
tended to assume "when it attains its full size. 
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