36 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 17 
EVERYBODY'S GARDEN. 
Onion Questions.—!. 1 would like some 
Iioint.s about onion growing. Wiiat kind of 
soil ai'c they grown on? What kind and 
amount of fertilizer is used, and what 
method of cultivation? What is the best 
market variety, and the cost of growing 
an acre? How much help required? What 
number of bushels per acre, and price usu¬ 
ally realized. 2. Has the prepared Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture been found as effective as 
buying the material and mixing it? 
Auburn, Ind. a. a. s. 
1. The ideal soil would be rich, well- 
Mrained muck land, well stored with hu¬ 
mus or vegetable matter. Lacking this, 
select the best available soil, and in so 
far as possible supply the necessary and 
lacking elements, by manure, fertilizers 
and culture. Select clay or sandy loam, 
avoiding either heavy clay or light sand. 
Onions grown on either of the latter will 
be disappointing under any ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances. On ordinary soils, the best 
preparation would be, at least, two 
years of very heavy manuring, 30 to 50 
loads of manure per acre, with crops of 
corn or potatoes kept entirely clear and 
free from weeds. To make the best of 
what you may happen to have, plow 
down the coarse manure, the more the 
better. Leave the fine for top-dressing, 
and supplement with hen manure, wood 
ashes, leached or unleached, and nitrate 
of soda. Do not mix the ashes with the 
manure, but work the manure well into 
the soil, after that the ashes. Plow the 
ground only ordinary depth; do not turn 
up new soil to the surface. Spread on 
the top-dressing, all you can get, and 
disk and harrow until the soil is fine 
and mellow. Then broadcast evenly 100 
or 125 pounds nitrate of soda, harrow 
lightly again and level the surface with 
a plank float. The above work must be 
done just as early as ground and weath¬ 
er conditions will permit. The seed must 
1)6 of the last year’s growth (not older), 
four to six pounds to the acre. It is 
best put in with a drill which should be 
carefully adjusted before beginning. 
Poor onion seed is very discouraging, so 
procure samples of the desired varieties 
from different growers, and test their 
vitality with damp soil in pans or boxes. 
Ninety per cent ought to germinate, and 
you can tell in this way which grower 
has the best seed. The sowing should be 
done right after the leveling. Sow in 
drills 12 to 14 inches apart in straight 
rows. Drill first row by line stretched 
across the field. If the drill has rever¬ 
sible marker it is easy to keep the rows 
straight after that. Otherwise straighten 
by the line, as crooked rows are very 
hard to cultivate. Cover the seed not 
less than one inch deep, and the sooner 
cultivation begins the better. Start the 
wheel hoe early, running the hoes close 
up to the wheel mark of the drill. If 
the wheel hoe has weeder attachment, 
use that instead of the hoes, going all 
over the ground. If not, then use the 
hoes as above, and when the plants are 
just breaking through, rake over the 
rows with hand rake. It will kill what 
weeds have started, but will not injure 
tbe plants. Early and thorough work 
will in this way minimize the hand 
weeding. Some weeding by hand will 
have to be done, and the best way I 
know is to get down on the knees astride 
the row. The best tool I have ever used 
for the hand weeding is an ordinary 
four-tined steel table fork. When well 
established they should be thinned to 
six to 10 plants to the foot of row. Keep 
up cultivation often enough to destroy 
all weeds, and preserve the loose, mellow 
condition of the soil. Six or seven weeks 
after sowing, another dressing of nitrate 
nf soda, same as first amount, will be 
very lieljiful, hut ilo not apply when 
plants are wet with dew or rain. Still 
another like application in midsummer 
will also be thoroughly good practice. 
When the plants begin to bottom nicely 
the soil should be worked from, instead 
of to the row. This general outline, 
varied of course according to circum¬ 
stances, ought to .bring good results. 
Study your market needs for variety, and 
see if the demand is for the yellow or red 
varieties. If the former, there will be i 
nothing better than Prizetaker or Yel- ^ 
low Globe Danvers. If the red varieties 
are in most demand, then the large Red 
Wethersfield or Southport Red Globe 
will be among the best. There are excel¬ 
lent white varieties, but they are more 
difficult to harvest and cure, and the red 
or yellow will be safest. Conditions vary 
so widely that only an approximate fig¬ 
ure of cost can be given; $100 per acre 
from fitting ground to harvested crop 
will not be very far from the average. 
But there will be many contingencies 
that will figure for or against. No very 
careful estimate as to the amount of 
help required can be made. Your “rush” 
season will be in hand weeding and thin- 
ing. Make sure to get help enough to 
do it on time and do it well. Two or 
three good hands just at the right time ; 
will be better than a dozen poor ones ! 
taken at any convenient time. Make the 
tools do all of the work possible; it is 
cheaper than hand labor. A fairly good 
crop would be from 300 to 500 bushels 
per acre; the crop varies from 200 to 
1,000. A fair average price would be 
from 60 to 75 cents per bushel, some¬ 
times going as low as 40 cents, and some¬ 
times upward to $1 per bushel. The safe 
plan will be to get the crop into market 
just as early as possible, if prices are at 
all satisfactory. Onions as a whole are 
a good money crop, and 500 bushels per 
acre with fair conditions ought to be 
grown. They take fertility from the 
soil, in about the proportion that good 
stable manure furnishes it. So almost 
any amount of it will be acceptable. 
Twelve to 1,500 pounds of any good ferti¬ 
lizer broadcast just before seeding will 
help the crop, especially if lacking wood 
ashes, and there is no profit in small or 
even average crops usually. The heavy 
yields are the paying ones, and good 
culture and liberal feeding will make 
better crops every year on the same 
ground. This is almost invariably true 
unless the maggots or smut become 
troublesome, when the safest remedy is 
to move out to new ground. 
2. In my own practice I prefer to buy 
the raw material and prepare the Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture myself. This is my ex¬ 
perience, others may differ from that. 
Michigan. .t. t:. morst. 
FRUIT NOTES. 
I read with much interest Prof. Waugh’s 
article on the Mother apple. We have an 
apple here called the Palmer Greening. 
We think It Is about the best Winter apple 
that grows in this part of the country. I 
had to get a tree of the Massachusetts 
Experiment Station, could not find a nur¬ 
sery that sold them. f. p. b. 
Ayer, Mass. 
We notice on page .SOO a query regard¬ 
ing the Canada Baldwin apple. The reply, 
given by Mr. Van Deman. is substantially 
correct, willi tbe exception that a most 
important point is omitted, and that is that 
the Canada Baldwin was originated in ! 
Quebec, where the American Baldwin can- j 
not be grown, and its hardiness makes it | 
very valuable. Grown, too, in Quebec, it | 
is to our mind in many respects superior j 
to the Baldwin; it is certainly very much ! 
better in quality. Where the American { 
Baldwin cannot be grown, the Canada 1 
Baldwin is a very valuable variety. j 
Toronto. Canada, stone i Wellington. j 
For tbe land’s sake, use Bowker’s Fer¬ 
tilizers. They enrich the earth.— Adv. 
lotatoes—Bovee, Harvest, Cobbler, Carman,Empire 
State. Ohio, Hose. 85 kinds. C.W. Ford, Fisher, N.Y. 
Hammond’s 
Seeds Lead 
in vigor, yield, earliness 
and quality. Better can¬ 
not be had. Prices very 
low. We can save you 
money. Northern Grown 
always the BEST. Our 
handsome 100-page catalog 
of Garden, Field and Flower 
Seeds mailed free on request. 
N. Hammond Seed Co., Ltd. 
BOX 42. BAV CITY. MICH. 
Fancy Price Strawberry. 
For early bearing of large, bright red, 
delicious berries, nothing excels the 
EARLY HATHAWAY. Firstcholce in 
all markets. Immensely prolific, fruit 
firm, plants dark leaveef, strong grow- 
0 ra. Fred c.taloz of matij excellent vanetlei. 
_ HARRISON’S NURSERIES 
Box 29 Berlin, Md. 
ESTABLISHED 1802. 
for over a hundred years have been nniversally 
recognized as the standard of excellence. 
OL'K CATALOfiUK—the lOid successive an¬ 
nual edition—contains a more complete assort¬ 
ment and fuller cultural directions than any other 
seed annual publi.shed. It contains 128 large-size 
pages, and in addition 16 full-page, half-tone 
plates, and is in every respect and without ex¬ 
ception the most <'omplete, most reliable and 
most Ix'autiful of American Barden Annuals. 
We Mail It Free. 
J. M. THORBURN & CO., 
36 Cortlandt St., New York. 
Manx 4 fanner attributes his success to 
tbe planting of Viek’s Seeds and to the infor¬ 
mation gathered from VICK’S 
Farmet*s Handbook 
FREE 
Not a catalogue, but a valuable reference 
book that tells all about the culture of crops, 
preparation of land. Fertilizing, Spraying, 
etc. Vick’s Carden and Floral Culde for 
1 DOS, the most instructive, the best illustrat¬ 
ed, the only Seed and Plant catalogue that 
tells how and what to plant. Both books 
mailed FREE if you mention tills paper. 
JAMES VICK’S SONS, 
Box 1578, Rochester, N.Y. 
Mouf Cro Onui earliest and most 
Hen Lid uUn iBdO prolific pea for sale at $2 
jier bushel. No charge for sacks when two bushels 
are ordered. J. C. LITTLE, Louisville, Qa. 
Grown strictly by ourselves for the North, 
South, East and West, each variety in the 
section which secures its highest develop¬ 
ment. We aim to have everything the strong¬ 
est and best of its kind. 
WE PRACTICE NO DECEPTIONS 
We do not offer $1.00 worth of seeds for 10c, but we do 
give the largest and best value for the 
money. Outline of 
FARM, CIIDDI IFC RAIRT, 
GARDEN, dllrrLICO POULTRY, 
>s large and the most complete. Write for handsome 
new Catalogue No. 12. Sent FREE. 
Griffith & Tumir CO., 205 Taei St., Biltimore, Md. 
Burpee’s orot 
Probably you have beard of this 
famous motto for many years but have 
1 /ou proved for yourself that Burpee’s 
.Seeds are the 
BEST that Grow? 
If not, write to-day for Burpee’s Farm Annual 
for 1903—so well-known as “The Leading Amer- 
i can Seed Catalogue.” It is an elegant book of 
184 pages, with beautiful colored plates and 
will be sent FREE to planters everywhere; 
—to others upon receipt of 10 cents, which is 
less than cost per copy in quarter-million 
editions. Write TO-DAY. Do not delay! 
It is Bullicient to address simply 
BURPEE, Philadelphia 
Pralt and Ornamental Trees, Ete., have 
been the standard of excellence for nearly half 
a century. We seed by mail postpaid. Seeds, 
Plants, Roaea, Rulba, Vinea and Small 
Treea and guarantee safe arrival and satisfac¬ 
tion, larger by express or freight. Direct deal 
will insure you the best and save you money. 
Try ns. Yonr address on a postal will bring 
you our elegant 168 page catalogue free. 49 
years, 44 greenhonses, 1,000 acres. 
TBE 8TOKRS A: IIARKISOX CO.. 
Box I 90, PAINE8VILLE, OHIO. 
S mith’s White Star Oats. First premium 
at N. y. State Fair, outyieldlng 1(1 
varieties. lUO bushels per acre, grown at 
Lockport,N. V.,in 1902. Seed clean from 
mustard or any othersced. Sample free. 
Seed Corn. I’otatocs.—Chios, 6 Weeks, 
Queens, Raleighs, Carmans. '20 kinds. 
Description free. Yields of It kinds 
Field Beans, with any two samples mailed 10c. Send 
to-day for free package of Iceberg Ijcttucc. 
Smith’s Potato Farm. Box B, Manchester, N. Y. 
POTATOES 
MAINE GROWN. 
Fifty varieties. Ad¬ 
dress CARTER & COREY, Presque Isle, Maine, or 
310 Washington Street, New York. Catalogue. Shij)- 
meuts can be made either from Maine or New York. 
HARRIS’ SEEDS 
rrom ine urower to ine ^ower 
Wholesale Prices to All. They are not 
“cheap seeds,” but the best seeciB grown, 
at prices which dealers often have to pay for seeds not .so good. We raise them on our own farm 
and save middlemen’s profits. We raise Vegetable and Flower Seeds, Seed Potatoes and al' 
kindsof Farm Seeds. Large Catalogue free. Don’t miss seeing it Send us yonr address now 
JOSEPH HARRIS CO., Moreton Farm, Coldwater, N Y. 
W Cf$e.”Kr47 Northern Grown Flower Seeds 
or 07 varieties of Isbell’s Cele-lfQ/vnf aRIq OnAtlA 
A I brated Northern Grown I CgwlOUIw OCwUo 
Isbell’s new illustrated Catalogue, giving prices on 
a complete line of seeds, FREE with either order. 
Send today. S. M. ISBELL & CO., Depi.B, Jackson, Mich. 
SEEDS 
Tlkere was more money made by Farm¬ 
ers and Gardeners In 1902 than in any pre¬ 
vious year in the history of the United 
States. 1903 will equal if not excel it. 
GOOD SEED IS SCARCE-Buy Early. 
JoRnson &. StoRes’ Garden and Farm Manual for 1903 illustrates by photo¬ 
graphs and describes some of the greatest Money Brlngers ever offered. 
Shall we send you a copy ? It is free. 
has no competition in the extra early class,— 
enormously productive of large, fine, smooth, 
solid fruit. Has made more Hard Casli for our customers than anything ever before 
introduced by any seedsman. Pkt., 20c.; oz., 81.00. 
JOHNSON A. STOKES, 217-219 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
SPARKS’ EARLIANA TOMATO 
THAT 
SUCCEED 
The seed hoose of D. ]^ndreth A Sons, the oldest la America, has had 119 yeara" experience with 
seMB, and the results of this are placed at the service of farmers and gardeners In a finely LUua> 
trated catalogue. Issued free. Ko grower of seeds, professional or amateur, can afford to be 
without the valuable information contained In this caUuogue# 8end for ft* 
AMERICA’S BED FOR 1903. 
The plants to make this attractive and showy l>ed are worth from 12.75 to *5.00, according 
to size, but you can have the Seeds to grow them, free of charge, by enclosing this advertise¬ 
ment with your cash order amounting to Jl.OO or more. See large Illustration and full 
description in Landreth’8 Catalogue. WritetOKlay for the catalogue. 
Good Gardens 
Assured 0. Landreth & Sons, 
IAS. TICK, formerly of Boeheetor, 
neosger of UbII Order ilepartment. 
Philadelphia. 
