APRIL *12 
application. As onion seed seldom retains 
its vitality for more than two years, there is 
usually more or less woiihless stuff in the 
market. 
For a general crop in the Northern States, 
seed is usually sown ; but for early onions, 
and in the Southern States, onion-sets are 
for that (and cart the stuff two or three 
miles) all I have got to say is, try it and you 
will never want to cover another one. Most 
people put on just enough to keep the berries 
clean, spreading it all over, covering plants 
and all; and in the spring just open a little 
place for the plant to come through. This 
THE GRAYLING (TKYMALLUS) 
STRAWBERRY CULTURE 
As it is about time of the year to think 
about setting out plants, a word of experi¬ 
ence may not come amiss to some of the 
readers of the It URAL. In the first place, I 
would say to those intending to set out straw¬ 
berry plants, don’t be in a hurry; wait un¬ 
til the ground is fairly settled and in good 
order, for I have found that if the ground 
freezes and thaws two or three times after 
they are set, they will grow but very little ; 
whereas, those set out a few days later will 
do well, in the next place, do not set out 
too many—that is, more than you can take 
good care of ; for they will not bear neglect 
as well ns some other crops; and if they 
once run over to weeds and grass, you might 
as well let them go, for they will not pay for 
the trouble of clearing out. Tf you have 
never tried to grow them, you will find half 
au acre plenty to start with. Of course, it 
depends a great deal on circumstances. If 
you are going to let them run, and cover the 
ground all over, and you can get pickers, you 
might set out acres ; but many times a small 
patch, well tilled, is worth more than acres 
not tilled at alL 
I find that strawberries are like almost 
everything else ; a man wants to know some¬ 
thing about what ho is doing if he would 
save himself from loss. It may seem strange 
t hat a strawberry plant is such a particular 
thing about the soil it grows in ; but such is, 
nevertheless, a fact., There are, probably, 
but very few varieties that, will succeed well 
on all kinds of soil, and this is the great thing 
to determine. It; is very risky business to go 
to a nursery and buy several thousand plants, 
of different varieties, if you have not tried 
them upon your soil ; and I would advise no 
man to do it, except, perhaps, with one va¬ 
riety, and that is the Wilson ; and that, of 
course, docs not do equally as well on all soils ; 
and there is no variety that does, or ever 
will. But 1 suppose that is the most reliable 
one grown, although I see no reason why 
there should not be others equally as good ; 
but some varieties are not worth setting out 
on some kinds of soil, while, in the next lot, 
on a different soil, t hey might do extra well. 
I can see no way for a man to find out what 
varieties to plant on his soil, but to try them 
first. 
I once set out 2,500 Barnes’ Monmouth, side 
by side with Agriculturist and Chas. Down¬ 
ing. The Agriculturist and Chas. Downing 
did finely, while the Barnes, with the same 
treatment, did not yield six quarts of good 
berries from the whole 2,5UU plants. I bought 
them simply on the recommendation of the 
grower. I do not blame him ; the fault was 
my own in buying something that I did 
not know whether my soil would suit or not. 
I giv,* (his for the benefit of others, that they 
may not get caught in the same way. 
As to the number of varieties to plant, I 
would say not more than three or four, un¬ 
less you are going to raise plants for sale ; 
then, of course, you want a variety. I see 
our leading nurserymen recommend for the 
main crop, Wilson and Chas. Downing, for 
both light and heavy soils ; and if J were go¬ 
ing to plant for fruit, 1 think I would set 
mostly of those two varieties, especially if I 
were going to plant them without first trying 
them. 
A word or two about distance apart and 
They should not be set nearer 
sin’ onsrioisr. 
used instead. In some localities, what are 
called the Potato Onion, is raised exclusively, 
but it is not usually considered to be as good 
in quality as the seed onion. The “ sets,” as 
the small onions planted for an early crop 
are termed, are raised by sowing seed upon 
Very poor land, and then harvesting the crop 
when t he bulbs arc about, the size of small 
marbles, say from % to V inch in diameter. 
These little bulbs are kept over until the fol¬ 
lowing spring, and then planted out earlv, 
they coming forward quickly, and are ready 
to be pulled land sold 'green long before it 
would be possible to produce them from seed. 
The cost of raising these ‘‘sets” depends 
upon the- price of labor, but if the operation 
is well managed, and upon suitable soil, the 
crop pays a handsome profit. 
There are already so many varieties of 
onions in cultivation that it might seem al¬ 
most useless to introduce another; still, we 
can hardly claim to have reached the utmost 
limit in the way of perfection, even in onions, 
particularly as regards quality ; therefore, 
we are glad to announce another new claim¬ 
ant in this line. A new sort is announced 
under the name of Queen Onion, which is 
said to be a very nice, silver-skinned Tripoli 
onion, remarkable not only for its fine flavor, 
but rapid growth and keeping qualities. A 
buneli of this fine sort is shown in the accom¬ 
panying illustration. It grows about two 
inches in diameter, ripens early, and thrives 
upon soils only moderately fertile. 
ONION CULTURE 
If we were to preach a sermon on onion 
culture, our text, Would be, “Keep out of 
stony ground,” Weeding onions is, in the 
best and finest soil, a tedious business, at 
best; but t,o add stone is a little too much 
for a good temper. The soil should lie deep 
and rich, and one as free of weed seeds as 
possible. A very light, sandy soil is not good; 
neither is a heavy clay ; but one of an inter¬ 
mediate texture, such us farmers and garden¬ 
ers term a good, unctuous loam, if there is 
any danger of the crop being injured by in¬ 
sects, top-dress the land with two to five 
bushels of salt per acre, and an equal quanti¬ 
ty of lime, before sowing. What is usually 
termed the suit and lime mixture is good; 
that is, slake the lirno with strong brine. 
Plow, harrow and make the surface as fine 
as possible, and then sow seed, or plant the 
bulbs, early. For market purposes the 
Weathersfield lied is probably the best: but 
for cue’s own use, the White or Silver skin 
will be found the most agreeable, unless a 
strong-flavored sort is preferred. 
Where a machine is used for sowing; a 
roller of some sort should be passed over the 
soil afterward, in order to press the earth 
down upon the seed, and prevent drying. 
This rolling the surface of a seed-bed is of 
far more importance than most persons im¬ 
agine, and it. frequently will make a week's 
difference in the growth of the crop. As 
soon as the plants are fairly above the soil, 
the hand cultivator, or scuttle hoe should be 
set at work among them, for the smaller the 
weeds, the more rapidly are they killed. 
A word about sowing good seed: Never 
sow onion seed in any considerable quantity 
without first knowing, positively, that it is 
fresh and good. Drop a few seeds into hot 
water, or place them on a cloth and pour the 
water over them, and if good, the sprouts 
will appear within twenty minutes after the 
cultivation, 
than two and a half feet in rows ; and fifteen 
inches in the row is plenty near enough for 
most varieties; if they grow good they will 
stand about solid in the row. This is where 
they are to be t illed with a horse. The best 
thing vve have ever found is-well, never 
mind ; I do not see it advertised in the Ru¬ 
ral. as it should be, but it is the best imple¬ 
ment i have seen yet for keeping the ground 
mellow, not only in strawberries but in corn 
and potatoes ; 1 would not sell mine for fifty 
dollars il 1 could not get another. If you 
want fine plants and fine berries vou must 
keep all runners off, and if you do so you 
will be astonished at the size the plants will 
attain. In the fall, before the ground freezes 
much, the ground should be covered with 
some sort of mulching. In this part, of the 
country we use steamed or salt hay when we 
can get it, putting it on, sometimes, thick 
enough to prevent all weeds from coming up 
t hrough it ; sometimes the plants are covered 
and sometimes not; there is no need of cov¬ 
ering if the ground around them is covered. 
It is the freezing and thawing of the ground 
that spoils the plants. I said we put the 
middling on thick enough to prevent any¬ 
thing coming through ; aud if you don’t be¬ 
lieve it is a job to cover one acre thick enough 
GARDEN NOTES 
Munro’s Little Heath Melon is an Englirii 
variety very highly commended in England. 
We give ah illustration of it. It is so hardy 
RAISING TROUT 
A r.T. who have undertaken to raise large 
quantities of young trout in confinement are 
aware that they will often die in large num¬ 
bers shortly after the absorption of the um¬ 
bilical sac, when they have just got to taking 
food. This is caused by improper food and 
the fouling of the water by particles that are 
left uneaten decaying on the bottom. Last 
season 1 tried many things to overcome these 
objections and found that the larva of the 
mosquito, (the little wiggler) was just the 
thing. I never saw fish take anything more 
readily, and the lame Mill remain fresh until 
eaten or hatched. 1 kept about two barrels 
of rain water to each thousand trout. The 
water is easily strained through mosquito 
mettiag, and the operation is much easier 
than chopping liver or heart , and then finding 
it too coarse. The larvie can be taken w hen 
small or left, to grow as desired, 
1 hope many of the Rural New-Yorker 
readers will try this and report, 
Honeoye Falls, N. Y. Fred Mather. 
that it is said to ripen its fruit out of doors 
in England, is fine-flavored, scarlet-fleshed, 
and one ol‘ the- most prolific in cultivation 
there. It was awarded a first-class certifi¬ 
cate by the- Roval Horticultural Society. We 
do not know that it lias been introduced in 
this eountiy—w r e do not find it in the cata¬ 
logues. 
