1854. 
THE CULTIVATOR 
187 
€lif litrlira (tetott. 
CULTURE OF THE ONION. 
In compliance with the request of a correspondent 
for accurate and reliable information on the culture of 
the onion, we have obtained the following statement 
from Amos It. Cole, of Perinton, N. Y., who has had 
much experience in the field culture of this crop, and 
who has been more successful than any other person 
within our knowledge :— 
Dear Sir —The following are answers to your’inqui¬ 
ries in the order in which you have made them :— 
1. What is the best soil, and best manure for onions 1 
Of all the different soils, I could not name the one 
best adapted to the culture of onions, but we have al¬ 
ways found a light sandy loam preferable, the darker 
the sand the fetter. The manure should be fine from 
the stable, put on in the fall, and we use leached and 
unleached ashes, mixed, well harrowed in after plow¬ 
ing before sowing, say 8 loads per acre. The manure, 
unless very fine and well mixed with the soil, is often 
a great obstacle in hoeing. We use little or none’ex¬ 
cept in the fall and exposed to the action of the frost. 
2. How prepared when sown. 
We plow early in the spring about seven inches deep, 
harrow well, then rake thoroughly, freeing the surface 
from weeds and lumps. Sow as early as the weather 
will permit, with a good hand drill. 
3. Distance of rows, distance in rows of seed when 
thinned, how often hoed. 
We prefer about 14 inches between rows. Set thpm 
in rows when thinned from 1 to 1-| inches, many prefer 
1 inch. We go through the rows, when the plants first 
make their, appearance above ground, and cutting close 
leave them pretty free from weeds. Then weed tho¬ 
roughly, by placing a hand on either side of the row, 
and with the thumb and ball of finger remove the 
weeds gently from the side. It depends on the land as 
to number of times of hoeing, whether weedy or not. 
But in all cases they should be hoed, and if necessary, 
wed whenever weeds appear which would be likely to 
check their growth. 
4. How much seed per acre, usual amount of crops 1 
We usually use about 6 lbs., many say from 4 to 5 
lbs., but this is rather a small amount, especially if 
any of it should not germinate, and very few persons 
after preparing theirground properly,would object to the 
additional quantity of seed when they consider that it is 
often rather uncertain, and should they sow a small 
amount of seed they must have a small crop. From 
5 to 600 bushels is a good crop, though we have grown 
368 bushels on a single half acre ; about 500 or even 
450 would be a very good yield. 
We have a way of testing the seed by placing about 
a spoonful of seed in a small vessel and pouring on 
boiling water, and if the seed is good it will sprout in 
15 or 20 minutes. If not it is worthless. The plants 
will also come-quicker (and in advance of the weeds,)if 
all the seed were soaked. They must however be tho¬ 
roughly dried, or they cannot be sown by a drill. 
MELONS AND CUCUMBERS. 
Melons and Cucumbers require similar treatment. 
The best way on all heavy soils is to dig out holes 
about 18 or 20 inches deep and wide. Fill these holes 
about two-thirds their depth with fresh manure, 
finishing with light or sandy soil, made rich by a mix¬ 
ture with well rotted manure and fine garden mould. 
The hills should be raised about six inches above 'the 
surface, and be six feet apart. Plant the seeds on 
these mounds; and as soon as they are large enough 
to be out of the way of insects, thin out to four in a 
hill. Buist recommends that when the'plants have 
made four or five rough leaves, the points of each 
shoot should be pinched off, as it will make them 
branch out and fruit earlier. 
Water Melons. —The following statement of an 
experiment in the culture of the water melon, was fur¬ 
nished us for publication in the old Genesee Farmer, 
about twenty years since, by Dr. Stephen Mosher of 
Cayuga county 
My first trial was on a new piece of sward ground 
which was plowed for the purpose of forming a garden. 
On this I had drawn three loads of fresh stable manure 
which was thrown into one heap, and covered with in¬ 
verted sods to the thickness of six or eight inches, in 
the form and manner of covering a large potato hill, 
which was when finished perhaps four feet high, and 
ten feet in diameter. On four sides about half way to 
the top, I made four excavations through the turf and 
into the manure about eighteen inches in depth and di¬ 
ameter, partly fiiling-the holes with fine rich earth so 
as to form four level hills. In each of these I planted 
five or six Watermelon seeds of what we call the Caro¬ 
lina variety, at the same time that I planted about four 
square rods of the ground surrounding the heap, at the 
usual distances, with the same kind of seeds. Within 
three days, the seeds, on the mound came up and grew 
most luxuriantly, while those planted in the adjacent 
ground, did not come up in less than fifteen days. Du¬ 
ring this time, the weather was unusually cold for the 
season; and though several frosts occurred yet the plants 
were not damaged in the least. When those on the 
level ground came up, pale and sickly,—each of the 
former had four large green leaves. 
The result was, these four hills planted on the mound 
soon began to run, and took possession of nearly the 
whole four square rods, against which progress those on 
the ground made but a feeble resistance. And from 
these four hills I am sure I had a good wagon load of 
as fine melons as I ever saw. From one single plant 
alone I weighed five melons that overrun twenty 
pounds each, one of them weighed twenty-five 
pounds; and on the same vine were more than that num¬ 
ber of smaller size. The produce of those planted round 
the heap was small and of little value. 
STRIPED BUGS. 
Many nostrums have been recommended for the des¬ 
truction of the striped bugs which often prove so inju¬ 
rious to melons and cucumbers. The best way to pro¬ 
tect these and other plants requiring protection is cover 
a simple square wooden frame of convenient size, with 
cheap millinet, and then place it over the hills, press¬ 
ing it into the ground so as completely to exclude 
winged insects and worms which crawl upon the sur¬ 
face. The bugs may also be effectually destroyed by 
the thumb and finger; going over the plants two or 
three times a day, if persevered in for a week or two, 
will effectually preserve the plants. 
