444 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Mauch 0. 
In regard to the cultivation of this bulb, the late 
Mr. Knight held the opinion, that the English summer 
was not long enough to perfect this production, and that 
to do so the crop ought to be forwarded a little, by being 
sown late in the preceding season, and preserved in 
some way during the winter. This doctrine is, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, true ; but the inconveniences of the remedy 
proposed renders that almost as objectionable as the 
evil to be overcome; besides which, it does not always 
accomplish that, and Onions, the produce of two sea¬ 
sons growth, seldom keep well—I might say they never 
do. Mr. Knight's theory, however, was not by any 
means a vague or useless one, for Onions, forwarded by 
hot-beds, &c., and planted out in a favourable situation, 
in a northern or other bleak district, are much improved 
and their size much increased ; while, in such places, it 
is almost impossible to obtain large, good bulbs, without 
some such aid, or adopting the biennial growth in some 
way or other; the most common being to sow a good 
breadth about the beginning of August, and by preserv¬ 
ing them, by covering in some way until spring, to plant 
them out on fresh, well-prepared ground, taking care to 
nip out the seed-stem as soon as it appears, and to give 
them every advantage, in the shape of hand-hoeing, <fcc., 
which can be commanded. Another plan, resembling 
the last, is to select some small bulbs, not larger than 
Crocusses, from the stores of the previous year, and to 
plant them in the same way as the last; the produce will 
be a large, though not a solid description of bulbs: 
still, for use early in the season they are valuable. 
Though the above methods may be advantageously 
adopted in many cases, and Onions sown under glass in 
January, and grown there till April, and then planted 
out, may also be applicable in other circumstances, yet 
the great bulk of the Onion crop is, and must be, sown 
when it is to be produced the same year, and, conse¬ 
quently, under such circumstances, ought to be accom¬ 
modated with everything necessary to forward it, as good 
ground, well-manured, and open yet not bleak situation, 
and that good after-culture which tends as much to per¬ 
fect this as any other crop we know of. However, we 
will suppose that the careful manager has long ago pre¬ 
pared the ground his Onion crop is to occupy, and that 
it has been lying exposed to the frosts and other changes 
of weather which benefit ground so much, and it be suf¬ 
ficiently dry, in the early part of March, to allow of its 
being trod upon without unduly pressing it; the seed 
must be sown forthwith, and the most usual way is to 
draw shallow drills, one foot apart, and to sow the seed 
very thin in those drills, covering them over after with 
the rake, sowing, perhaps, a few Radishes at random over 
the ground as well to draw while young. 
Now, this is the best practice when the ground is not too 
stiff nor wet to prevent its being done at the proper time 
in that way ; but when that cannot be accomplished, then 
let the ground be marked into beds, and the seed sown 
broadcast, and covered with soil cast out of the alleys ; 
the result will be scarcely less abundant than by the 
other way, only, when they are sown in beds, they rarely 
are thinned sufficiently to ensure them swelling to the 
size that denotes perfection; but that duty must be in¬ 
sisted on, and the Onions, instead of being cramped to¬ 
gether like the blades of glass in a well-bottomed piece 
of turf, ought to stand perfectly clear from each other, 
and when full grown they ought not to be touching each 
other in any way. 
It may bo worth while to remark, that in common 
with almost everything else, the number of varieties of 
the Onion have increased, or said to have increased, yet 
not to the extent of other things; for the good points 
of an Onion have not so much attracted attention as the 
earliness, flavour, or productiveness of Peas and similar 
vegetables, for the improvement of which so much has 
been said, if not done. Neither are our Onions dignified 
with the title of anyone's name; doubtless, for the rea¬ 
son that they do not like to condescend to patronize an 
article so opposed to the ideas of poetry or politeness ; 
be that as it may, there are sufficient varieties to select 
from; and the inexperienced would do well to confine 
himself to one or two sorts, of which he has reason to 
believe tbe seed to be good. The Globe is an excellent 
Onion, and so is the White Spanish , but the Strasburgh 
is said to keep better tban either ; it is, however, smaller. 
The Deptford is also good; in fact, if the seed be sus¬ 
pected, it is better to get a quantity of each, and mix 
them together, and then sow the mixture. The white 
kinds are so much alike that no particular difference is 
perceptible to ordinary observers; certainly, such kinds 
as the Blood, Tripoli, Welch, and Silver Shinned differ 
entirely from the general stock, and ought not to be sown 
with them, but the others may be sown as inclination 
directs. The Silver Shinned, being mostly used for 
pickling, ought to be sown thick, on some piece of poor 
land, and not so soon as the general crop. 
J. Robson. 
The Spanish fowls, part of the stock of Mrs. Lydia 
Stowe, sold for very good prices, at Mr. Stevens’s, on 
the 28th of February. Lot 151, a very superior 
Cockerel, fetched Jill 10s. The highest sum for a 
Pullet, was T5 10s. The thirty lots averaged about 
£2 17s. each. 
WEIGHTS OF PEAR FRUIT. 
The different horticultural periodicals of the day fre¬ 
quently attract their readers’ attention to the accounts they 
give of the weights of Pear fruit exhibited at the different 
exhibitions, but never having met with any accounts either 
corresponding or approaching to the following, I have trans¬ 
cribed them, under the impression they may be interesting to 
many of the horticulturists and fruit growers included in 
the number of the readers of The Cottage Gardener. 
In the month of October, 1834, the Board of Management 
of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society, 
resolved on sending for his late gracious Majesty’s accep¬ 
tance, a collection of Jersey-grown fruit, and the following 
is a list (with weights attached) of part of the fruit sent— 
103 Chaumontelle Pears, 88 lbs. 3 ozs. 
10 Duchess d’Angouleme Pears, 23 lbs. 
35 Beurre d’Aremberg, 27 lbs. 10 ozs. 
3G Crassanne, 20 lbs. 3 ozs. 
2 Belle de Jersey, or Uvedale's St. Germain Pears, 6 lbs., 
and 12 Passe Colmar, not specified. 
There were, also, some remarkable fine Apples sent, of 
the Golden Pippin, Nonpareil, Pigeonnet, and Court of 
Wick varieties. The two remarkable fruit of Belle de Jersey 
Pear, were grown and presented to the Society, for repre¬ 
sentation, by John Le Couteur, Esq., of Belle Vue, Jersey; 
the remainder of the fruits being contributed by different 
gentlemen, members of the Society, feeling interested in its 
proceedings. 
And in 1841, another collection of Jersey-grown Pears 
were respectfully forwarded for her present gracious 
Majesty’s acceptance, including 
2 Duchesse d’Angouleme, 3 lbs. 5 ozs., or lib. 10J ozs. 
each. 
12 „ „ selected, 17 lbs. G ozs. 
1 Chaumontelle, 1 lb. 6 ozs. 
12 „ selected, 13 lbs. 7-J ozs. 
1 Crassanne, lib. lj oz. 
12 „ selected, 10 lbs. 4 ozs. 
1 Beurre d’Aremberg, 14 ozs. 
12 „ „ selected, 9 lbs. 6 ozs. 
Here, again, the two monster Duchesse d’Angofdeme frnit 
were again contributed by John Le Couteur, Esq., of Belle 
Vue, and the largest Chaumontelle and Crassanne, by James 
Hammond, Esq., of Eantaisie, Jersey, and the remainder in 
