462 
IMPROVEMENTS IN GARDENING. 
ing custom of sowing a full crop of onions, to stand the winter, for the 
service of spring and summer consumption, in a green state. This 
custom is much more the business of the market than of the private 
gardener; because, if the latter has a bed of Welsh onions or chives 
for salads, and a good store of common bulbs in the loft, there is less 
call for cibouls; whereas the former can dispose of vast quantities of 
this crop along with the radishes which come in during March and 
April. This practice is, however, adopted in every private establish¬ 
ment on a moderate scale; and not only for spring use, but for the 
purpose of transplanting these autumn-sown plants in March, for the 
purpose of bulbing in summer. It is true, many of these run to seed 
before they attain full size, and of course do not bulb; but they are 
useful even in their run-away state for soups, &c. 
Transplanting onions is a practice of but recent introduction; a 
custom, we believe, borrowed from the Portuguese. By this means 
very large onions are obtained. The bulbs to be transplanted are sown 
late in the spring, on a shady and rather dry spot, and very thickly 
together. Here the plants starve each other, and produce very small 
bulbs, which, when done growing, are taken up, cleaned, and stored, 
to be replanted in the spring. By this management the nature of the 
plant is so far changed, that, instead of a biennial, it becomes a triennial. 
In the first summer it passes its youth; in the second, arrives at full 
bulk; and in the third, produces seed—a full-sized bulb being neces¬ 
sary, it seems, to ripen seed in perfection. 
Transplanting peas and common beans is an old custom; but it is, 
perhaps, more practised now than formerly, showing that the practice 
is good. 
Kidney-beans, both dwarfs and runners, are found to bear much 
sooner if sown early in the spring in a place of safety , and there kept 
in a stunted state till the frosty nights in the beginning of May are 
over; and if then put out, will present their flowers in a very short 
time. This we consider a very useful improvement, and which 
merits general introduction. That the runner is a perennial or a bien¬ 
nial, was discovered by the late Mr. Sweet many years ago, and by 
several others soon afterward; and it was found that, if the roots were 
taken up, and kept through the winter in sand, as those of dahlias, 
marvel of Peru, &c., are, and planted out in the beginning of May, they 
will shoot and bear again in summer. But this second crop is inferior 
to that yielded by seedlings, and, therefore, saving the roots is of no 
practical use, unless, indeed, the season is so adverse that no seed 
can be saved. 
Sea-kale was in almost every garden fifty years ago, but very little 
