COLLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS. 
499 
On Growing Onions. —I am induced to send you a few obser¬ 
vations on the culture of Onions in rows, which I practised this sea¬ 
son in my garden. The ground intended for my onion crop, I always 
put in ridges, in October. About the middle of February, T level 
down the ridges, and smooth the ground, and fit it for sowing the 
seed. I make my bed 12 feet long, and 8 feet wide, allowing it, 
after being made, to lay and pulverize until the 8th of March, at 
which time I sow my seed. In sowing, I make drills across the beds, 
about sixteen inches apart, and cover the seed, when sown in the 
drills, about half an inch deep. I afterwards press the soil on the 
seed with my foot, and rake it over smooth ; and in about a fortnight 
the plants begin to appear. I then cover my bed with wood ashes, 
and this prevents the worms from drawing them in, and also accel¬ 
erates the growth of the plants. About once in three weeks, I reg¬ 
ularly hoe between the rows. In the months of May and June, 
when the onions begin to bulb, I water them about four times with 
soap suds, and keep the earth hollow between the rows. I do not 
follow the plan of stopping the growth by breaking the stalks, but 
permit them to grow as long as they will. When the stalks break 
down of themselves, I pull up the onions, so that my crop is in 
course of drawing for many days. Some of my onions measure six¬ 
teen inches in circumference, and many of them weigh upwards of a 
pound. J. K. 
Broom Drains. —When stones are not plentiful, broom is some¬ 
times used in drains. The drain is filled to the height of about 
twenty inches with broom, not laid at random, but placed in a slo¬ 
ping direction with the ends near the roots undermost, so that the 
small branches near the top make a close covering, and no earth can 
get through to stop the water. The workman, in placing the broom, 
begins at the highest part of the drain, and proceeds downwards. 
Many made thirty years ago continue to run well .—Roxburgh Re¬ 
port, 1794. 
Broom for Fire Wood. —Broom has long been used as fire¬ 
wood ; it was about fifty years ago reckoned the most profitable crop 
the land could produce. It was cut down every seven or eight years. 
Turnips. —Mr. Rutherford, in 1747, began his experiments on 
drilling turnips in Scotland. The field being properly ploughed, 
was levelled and harrowed very fine, the drills were a common Scotch 
plough with the coulter taken off. The drills were made by the sock ; 
the plough was drawn by one horse, a man leading it by the head. 
The drills were two feet apart. John Martin, the doctor’s servant, 
afterwards Kirk officer of Melrose, went immediately behind the 
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