THE CULTIVATOR. March, 
Cultivation of Onions. 
108 
Of those who are not thus impressed by the advance 
of years, and the increase of experience, it must be said 
that their opinions cannot be entitled to great confidence. 
One who can promptly and confidently settle every ques¬ 
tion proposed, who has no doubts as to his own ability of 
decision on the most intricate and complicated problems, 
must be either a man who has advanced very far beyond 
the range of the other votaries of science in his own day, 
or one who is not able to appreciate the difficulties which 
surround him, and who is not, therefore, a safe guide. 
There is a third supposition in the above case, which is 
to consider such a man designing and unscrupulous, but 
this is, let us hope, the rarer alternative. 
I might go on at great length, but these hints will, I 
think, be sufficient to show that farmers must not only 
have instruction, but that they must have it of the right 
character. It is obvious that every person who comes 
along, claiming to be highly scientific, should not be ta¬ 
ken upon trust, but should be tested in some way, as to 
the soundness of his pretensions. Let the evidence of 
other scientific men be brought in, and let satisfactory 
proofs be required of his ability to do what he professes. 
This is not said with a view of recommending any parti¬ 
cular person or persons, as to be followed implicitly, but 
with the desire of arousing more caution than has hither¬ 
to been exercised in these matters. “ All is not gold that 
glitters,” and all is not true science, that is high sound¬ 
ing. 
It is for such reasons that I have said—we have not at 
present a sufficient number of the proper men to found 
and continue our agricultural schools, in a manner that 
will satisfy the expectations of the community. The 
training of such men, then, is a work of great impor¬ 
tance, and even urgency. It is a work that cannot be 
accomplished at short notice; one or two years will not 
do it; we want those who have had extensive experience, 
who have availed themselves of every advantage for the 
acquirement of reliable knowledge, and who have learned 
to know what the necessities of the farmer are. 
Among the wants of the farmer I consider this lack of 
first rate instructors, one of the most pressing and ur¬ 
gent; it is useless for him to establish schools, unless he 
can find proper teachers, and he ought not to be driven, 
by their premature establishment, into any dependance 
on those who can only mislead and disappoint him. 
Here is & most promising field for enterprise and ener¬ 
gy ; here are many openings that within a feiv years must 
be filled. Those who now enter upon the study of sci¬ 
ence as applied to agriculture, will find their acquisitions 
in immediate demand. If but fifty or one hundred intel¬ 
ligent young men, would for the coming few years, de¬ 
vote their efforts to the acquisition of the various bran¬ 
ches of science connected with agriculture, they would 
control the whole field, and be able to sweep away the 
glaring errors which are now so prevalent. We could 
then commence with schools in all directions; quackery 
and ignorance would decrease, and a great and rapid ad¬ 
vance would be visible in every quarter. 
Let us, then, while we are agitating the subject of in¬ 
struction, not forget to urge upon our young men of abili¬ 
ty, the advantages of fitting themselves as instructors; 
there cannot be too many of them for years to come, and 
they, therefore, need not fear that the profession will be 
overstocked. Yours respectfully, John P. Norton. 
• Editors Cultivator —I observe in the January No. 
of the Cultivator, an article on the Culture of the Onion 
in Ohio; and as I have been engaged in the growing of 
that important vegetable for the last two years, perhaps 
a statement of my mode and success in raising that arti¬ 
cle, may be interesting to some of your readers. 
I commenced the business without any knowledge of 
it, except what I obtained from Comstock and Freer’s 
Gardener’s Almanac, and the produce the first year was at 
the rate of 400 bushels per acre. The ground was what 
is generally called bog-meadow, with a thin soil, under, 
laid with blue clay , with which it was considerably mixed. 
It was manured with rotted barn-yard manure, at the 
rate of 20 loads per acre. The ground was plowed in the 
fall, and as soon as dry enough in the spring, the manure 
was spread on, and well harrowed in. The ground was 
then marked out with a marker with four teeth, placed 
14 inches apart, making three drills at a time, (one fol¬ 
lowing in the last mark, to keep the rows straight,) and 
the seed (Wethersfield large red,) sown at the rate of 4 
pounds to the acre. It was sown the 2d of April. It 
came up finely, and when the spikes were two or three 
inches high, the hoe was passed through the rows, des¬ 
troying most of the weeds, leaving only a small strip 
along the plants to weed out. This was repeated as often 
as necessary. They received two slight top-dressings of 
ashes, once in June and once in July. At the second 
weeding, thinking the plants were too thick, they were 
thinned out, which no doubt diminished the crop consi- 
; dcrably. They were gathered in September, and sold at 
56 cents the bushel. 
With the knowledge thusgained by experience, I went 
to work in the fall of 1850, to prepare the ground for the 
next year, feeling confident that, a much larger product 
might be obtained. After plowing, I drew wash and soil 
at the rate of 40 or 50 loads per acre, scattering it as 
evenly as possible, and let it lay till spring. The first day 
of April the seed was sown, at the rate of 8 pounds to 
the acre. They grew most luxuriantly, some of the tops 
measuring three feet in height, and bottoms 15 inches in 
circumference. Part of the piece proved too wet in the 
fore part of the season; but nine square rods of the dry- 
est part of the patch yielded 64 bushels, or 1,138 bushels 
per acre, netting at 62^ cents, (the price clear of freight,) 
‘$711.25 cents the acre. Besides yielding so largely, they 
are highly esteemed by all who have used them, being 
much sweeter than those raised on the upland. A sam¬ 
ple was on exhibition at the Fair of the American Insti¬ 
tute, and received the first premium as the best red 
onion. 
Now, Messrs. Editors, without wishing to detract in any 
manner from the reputation of the fertility of Ohio, I 
must say that Old Orange can produce some pretty “ tall” 
onions, as well as milk and butter. A Subscriber. 
Chester , Orange Co., N. Y., Jan. 19, 1852. 
-- 
The Tcrnep-fly. —In some parts of England this in¬ 
sect has been so destructive as to threaten seriously the 
continuance of the turncp culture. By the use of guano 
and bone manure, an inherent vigor has been given to 
it, enabling it to resist effectually the attacks of the fly. 
