The Home Vegetable Garden 
23 
cred about one-half inch deep. When the plants are well up, they 
are thinned. More plants than are needed are left the first time 
and some of these are taken out later, finally leaving them 3 to 6 
inches apart in the row. 
The other method, which has many advantages and which 
should be employed more extensively, is what is known as the 
“new onion culture.” The seed are sown in the hotbed about 
March 1st in drills 5 or 6 inches apart. When ready to put the 
plants outside, they are taken up, the roots cut back, to one-half 
inch in length, and part of the top removed, after which they are 
transplanted in the usual way, being set 3 to 6 incheb apart in the 
row. By this method, the grower is able to lengthen the growing 
period by starting his onions early, and is thus enabled to grow 
to perfection the milder flavored onions which require a longer 
season than we normally have here. He also eliminates the tedious 
process of thinning and weeding and is sure of a perfect stand of 
good plants properly spaced. The ground can be cultivated be¬ 
fore the onions are transplanted to it, and the first crop of weeds 
killed. 
To offset these advantages are the disadvantages of trans¬ 
planting and of supplying hotbed space. However, transplanting 
an acre of onions requires but little more labor than thinning the 
crop which has been planted the old way. About 150,000 plants 
per acre are required. One man can set 8,000 to 10,000 plants per 
day. The cost of hotbed sash is the most important item. It re¬ 
quires twenty 3x6 sash to grow enough plants to set an acre. 
Frequent shallow cultivation should be given. The hand wheel 
hoe is best for this. Care must be exercised in irrigating. The 
tendency is to give too much water, causing a large percent of 
scullions. In the early part of the season, water should be given 
sparingly to promote strong root development. An irrigation 
every ten days is all that is necessary during the growing period. 
No water should be applied after August 15th, but withheld in or¬ 
der to allow the crop to mature 
Breaking the tops of the onions down by rolling a light roller 
of some kind over them may sometimes be advisable when the 
crop is tardy about maturing. However, if the plants can be in¬ 
duced to mature naturally, a much more satisfactory product will 
result. 
When ready to harvest, the roots should first be cut by run¬ 
ning a U-shaped blade under the bulbs. Such a blade may be at¬ 
tached to a double-wheeled hand hoe, or a longer blade, cutting two 
^ows at a time, can be attached to a horse hoe. The tops are then 
^ off about half an inch above the bulb, and the onions are raked 
