August 2G. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
337 
outside, it looks better than if it were bounded right 
and left with such things as Brussels Sprouts or Brocoli, 
and if an exhausting crop has been lately removed, 
then let some well-rotted dung be dug in, or, rather, that 
ought to have been done some time ago; but we are 
averse to sowing winter onions on rich ground, they are 
apt to get too gross, and consequently are less lit to 
stand a hard winter than when more why and firm, 
which they are more sure to be when stimulating 
manures are withheld. However, we will suppose the 
late crop to have been a heavy one, and dung necessary, 
then let that be buried pretty deep, in order that the 
roots may only reach it in spring, when all danger from 
it is past, and its utility will be more apparent. In 
regard to the kiud sown, much difference of opinion 
exists, some insist on the Silver-skinned, others on the 
Tripoli, while we have had as much success with a kind 
resembliug the Strasburgh as with either of the other 
two, and we find it equally hardy, and a much better 
onion for general purposes. The Tripoli is an ugly, 
deformed bulb, large, certainly, but that is poor com¬ 
pensation for the waste that attends it when cut up. 
The Silver-skinned is more generally useful; and where 
young ones are wanted to draw for salad purposes, this 
is the best of all, it being of a milder character than 
many others, and, as the name implies, it is, perhaps, 
whiter than many of them. In sowing, regard must be 
had to the purposes for which they are wanted; for if a 
considerable quantity be required to draw young during 
the autumn and winter, then sow broadcast in beds the 
usual width; but if only a few be so required, and the 
crops of next spring be of more consequence, then sow in 
rows afoot apart, but tolerably thick in the row, as a few 
are easily taken out in spring, and they transplant admi¬ 
rably, and do well, only they are somewhat later than 
those allowed to remain where sown. As the ground is 
generally dry at this season, we need not urge the 
propriety of not soddening it by treading on it when 
wet; but should the weather continue so dry as to 
render it necessary to administer water, let that be 
done in such a way as not to have occasion to tread 
again on the watered ground, and then let the whole be 
slightly covered with some shading material, as we have 
recommended for cabbage and other seed beds, which, 
however, remove when dull weather sets in for a day or 
two, or when the seed begins to vegetate. Nothing 
more will be required until they show themselves dis¬ 
tinctly, when the hoe may be run through them, pro¬ 
vided they be in rows; those sown broadcast must be 
kept clear of weeds, and when they are in thick patches 
a few may be removed at once, as they will only kill 
each other. It is a very good plan to work some char¬ 
coal ashes in ground sown with onions, as it acts both 
as a fertilizer and preservative; it is a very desirable 
ingredient to mix with the soil for this crop. 
Spinach is also sown at this time much in a similar 
way to what we have detailed for onions, only it ought 
to be favoured with a more sheltered situation, as it is 
expected to continue in a growing state all the mild 
part of the winter, in order to furnish a supply of crisp, 
fresh, green leaves, when wanted. Now, though the 
plant can withstand a tolerable amount of severe 
weather, yet the purpose is not altogether served by its 
standing the winter, it ought to be kept growing as 
well; therefore, every available means must be made 
use of to attain that end. A south border, well shel¬ 
tered from the east and west likewise, and the ground 
made as rich as possible. The conditions being just 
the reverse of the crop noted above, an opposite course 
must be adopted : the long-leaved or prickly Spinach is 
the best to sow now, but it need not be sown thick if 
the seed be expected to be good; still, it is safer to 
sow plenty, provided you can insure another necessary 
operation being attended to, that is, “ thinning in 
time;” not but that winter Spinach may stand much 
closer than the summer crop, but it is, nevertheless, 
advisable to thin it in part. As the crop is never ex¬ 
pected to get very high, rows a foot apart, the same as 
for onions, will do very well. We have drilled it eighteen 
inches, but there is no advantage, unless the bulk of the 
spring crop be more important than the winter one : 
with us the latter has been the chief consideration. 
If not done before, the principal Onion crop will now 
have to be housed; after having lain some time in the 
sun to harden, and dissipate the moisture calculated to 
induce a too early growth, they may be carried and laid 
down carefully on some cool, airy floor (boarded, by all 
means); there they can lie until some wet day they can 
be sorted, some of them tied up, and the others put 
away. In so putting them to rights, let it be distinctly 
understood that nothing has to be removed except a 
very little that may fall off, and the roots twisted off by 
hand—no knife used on any account. All partially 
unsound ones, and “ thick necks,” may be put aside for 
present use; but there is one description of Onion we 
would urge on our friends to appropriate to its legiti¬ 
mate purpose at once, that is, the pickling ones, which 
we suppose to be the small Silver-skinned; these, some¬ 
how or other, often start to grow soon after being housed, 
and, consequently, are spoiled for the purpose intended, 
therefore, when they are harvested, let them be at once 
secured in the pickle jar. 
Shallots, being a much earlier bulb, will have been 
on their shelves some time ago, but they are ticklish 
things to keep in certain seasons and situations, often 
decaying almost wholesale. Perhaps the best remedy is 
an abundance of lime or chalk in the soil they grow in, 
but their propensity to “rot off” is so varied, as regards 
the position they grow in, and other things, that we 
cannot, with a certainty, warrant any particular situation 
as likely to be free from disease. That disease, however, 
has nothing of the Potato complaint in it, as they often 
flourish, and ripen their bulbs, seemingly plump and 
sound; and after being stored away, decay takes place 
to a sad extent. We have, at times, had the same mis¬ 
fortune with Potato Onions, a kind which is produced 
by the increase of bulbs that are planted. We suppose 
that both cases are examples of that law which so often 
visits on the offspring of diseased parents the accu¬ 
mulated maladies of some three or four generations; an 
evil from which, however, seedlings are in a great 
measure exempt. J. Robson. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING.— September. 
Potatoes. —We grieve to find that the opinion offered in 
a previous Allotment paper has proved but too correct: 
virulent is the disease, indeed. There is, perhaps, one 
slight solacing phase in which to view the matter, and that 
is the fact that the virus does not spread with equal rapidity 
in the foliage as on its first appearance: at least, in these 
parts. But then it commenced earlier, and the root gan¬ 
grene has proceeded with, at least, equal rapidity to its first 
visits. This, to be sure, may he principally owing to the 
unusual accumulation of ground heat, consequent on such a 
continuous run of heat as we seldom experience. Besides 
this, the atmosphere, for weeks, has been in a Highly elec¬ 
trical condition; and there can be little doubt that this 
subtle agent, which pervades all nature, plays a most 
important part in the vegetable kingdom. These things 
together, we do think will account for the virulent character 
the disease has assumed; we see no reason to despair, hut 
rather incentives to renewed perseverance in the care of the 
seed. We are not aware that anything of a novel character, 
as to cure of the potato, has appeared ; the disease has 
hitherto proceeded in defiance of all the arts of man ; pre¬ 
ventives alone, if thero be such, can only, in the present 
state of things, be relied on. As for those gentlemen who, 
from one quarter or other, constantly brag of their ability to 
bid the disease utter defiance, and advertise their wares as 
