February 12. 
THE COTTA CxE GAT DENE R. 
S09 
onions; it forms no unimportant ornament to a garden, 
and is one of the first things to which the eyes of visitors 
are directed,—its quality forms no bad criterion of the 
merits of the cultivator; and however indifferent that 
class of visitors may be, who see no beauty in anything 
but flowers, they generally pay a passing glance to this 
; favourite, and the prominent position it usually occupies 
| is one that is expected to have received all the assist- 
| ance its owner could render. Suffice it, therefore, to 
! say, that we highly approve of the onion having the first 
j place, as regards quality of soil, good and open aspect, 
i and generous assistance in the way of manure; and as 
we last week, in our article on the “ rotation of crops,” 
| pointed out this as a suitable one to follow celery, which 
i likewise is entitled to a distinguished post, we will sup- 
! pose the ground which the celery has been occupying to 
j nave been dug pretty deep as it became cleared, taking 
| care to spread about the dungy portion, which formed 
the bottom of the trench, and to add some more of a well 
rotted kind; this, and one or more intervening diggings, 
j in frosty mornings, we suppose to have been done, and 
our purpose is now to see about sowing this crop. There 
are few small seeds more really hardy than the onion ; 
| and though the climate has quite as much, perhaps 
l more, to do with its success than that of other crops, we 
believe it is rarely such as to prevent its vegetating; 
therefore there need be no apprehension of sowing it too 
soon, provided the ground be in a fit state. We usually 
sow about the first week in March, but those who have 
the advantage of an earlier locality, may sow somewhat 
sooner, the state of the ground being a better criterion 
than the dav of the month. Some soils are in better 
•/ 
order in the middle of February than others are a month 
i afterwards; consequently, the former may be sown first, 
and we need hardly say that having the ground in good 
trim tells to the advantage of the after crop. But some 
of our readers will be saying their ground is not likely 
to be in good order before May, and are they to wait 
; until then ? Most certainly not. And as this case is a 
hard one, we will deal with it first. 
It has been our lot to have garden soils of very ex- 
! treme kinds to deal with, from the stiffest and most 
retentive loam or clay, to a loose open sand, of which 
it was common to say, that “ wet weather was the 
cleanest,” and certainly a continuance of dry weather 
rendered the ground in the same condition as the sand 
banks of a sandy shore—open and loose to an un 
j pleasant degree; in such a soil as this, the moisture of 
the season, copious watering, or liberal allowances of 
enriching matter, affords the only prospects of a crop, 
“ and the seed might be sown at Christmas, so far as its 
welfare is concerned.” This however, is, an extreme case, 
and there are not many such; “ but there are a great 
number of the contrary description, and on these a 
different course must be pursued. Here is a soil so im¬ 
pervious of water, that rain falling or resting in holes, 
may be seen to stand there until carried off' by evapo¬ 
ration,” which our readers well know is not an active 
agent in winter, so that we cannot, or ought not, to 
trample on such ground in the course of sowing, “ unless 
it be pretty dry,” which it is hardly expected to be in 
March, in this case, we advise the onions to be sown 
' in beds about three-feet-and-a-half wide, with eighteen- 
inch alleys between. This allows access to the crop all 
the season, without treading over the ground occupied 
by it; whereas in the former case treading might be of 
service, as rendering the ground less permeable to the 
drying influence of the atmosphere, and consequently 
the crop might be sown in the usual way of rows one 
foot apart. Now, our readers will easily see, that by 
far the greatest number come between these two extreme 
I cases, and may be met in the medium way, i. e-, they 
may be sown in continuous row3 whenever the ground 
is sufficiently dry to allow the operation to proceed with¬ 
out consolidating it too much by the trampling oi the j 
party at work. This the state of the weather sometimes i 
makes it impossible to do, and sowing and digging must | 
go on simultaneously ; which can easily be done by be¬ 
ginning at one side, and digging a little way—say a ; 
yard, or less—then sow one row, then dig a little more, , 
then sow another row, and so on. Usually, a shallow 
drill is made by the hoe figured at page 204, and covered , 
in with a rake ; by which means not a foot need be set 
on the dug ground, and whether wet or dry weather 
follow, it is in that open state best calculated to receive 
the beneficial influence of the atmosphere; and in the 
after operations of weeding, thinning, and stirring the 
soil, the under-stratum is sure to be rendered sufficiently 
solid to prevent the undue admission of dry heated 
air at a time when not wanted. Another thing we must 
not forget to mention—that is, not to rake the ground 
too fine at this early season; the heavy rains that often 
follow after, with the drying winds and sunshine, so 
often cake the ground to an extent that makes germi¬ 
nation very difficult, and when it is effected, progress is 
very slow,—rather, therefore, let the ground be rough 
1 and open, after treatment will quickly solidify it. 
We prefer sowing in continuous rows in all cases 
where the ground is not of that stubborn adhesive kind 
which almost defies our attempts to improve it, but such 
extreme cases are not common in gardens ; nevertheless, 
we are bound to mention them, and we have been some¬ 
times envious of those who had such soil, to see the 
fine cauliflowers, lettuce, and other summer crops they 
produced, when ours were burnt up by the Midsum¬ 
mer’s sun. 
We need hardly here recommend kinds, since all have 
their merits; the Globes are said to be the mildest, but 
do not keep well; while the Strasburg, which keeps 
best, seldom gets so large as the Portugal and Broun 
Spanish. 
Many people grow their own seed, and when that is 
done in a small way, good bulbs are taken, irrespective 
of kind, and the result is good seed, which may, with as 
much propriety as there is usually in such things, be 
called by the name of the place where grown. Most 
cottagers grow their own seed, and taking into considera¬ 
tion the crowded state of their bed, the deficiency of 
manure, and, it may be, the proximity of apple-trees, 
&c., few cultivators grow better onions than they do. 
With those who have their seed from nurserymen we 
would recommend them to obtain some of the White 
Portugal, Globe, and Brown Spanish, and mix them 
before sowing. These we intend to be the main crop, 
and may occupy two-thirds of the ground allotted to 
this vegetable; then do the same with the James-Reep- 
ing, Strasburg , and Reading, and in harvesting they can 
easily be kept apart, the last named being supposed to 
be better keepers than the others. 
Before concluding, let me call the amateur’s attention 
to his autumn-sown Onions, which the mildness of the 
season has enabled to stand the winter unhurt. These, j 
when standing too thick, may be carefully thinned out, j 
and some of them planted in well-prepared ground, 
they come into use by the end of June, and are ot 
infinite service in saving the principal summer crop. 
Where no autumn-sown ones exist, a very good substi- j 
tute for them is to be had in planting a few small ones, ; 
such as are used for pickles ; and in autumn, when the 
crop is sorted over, such as are not fit for that purpose j 
may be laid aside, and are sure to come in useful in ; 
early summer; but they never have that compact ap- ; 
pearance spring ones attain when well managed, though 
coming in when they do, they are usually acceptable. 
We ought, also, here to mention the Potato or Under - j 
ground Onion, and the Tree Onion. 'I he latter, certainly, 
only grown as a curiosity, producing a few tmshaped 
small bulbs, or pseudo-bulbs, at the top of a sort oi j 
