ONION. 
1b 
1822, it was once plowed, and sowed in rows 14 inches apart which took 
between three and four pounds of seed : in the course of the season, it. was 
hoed between the rows, and weeded four times: in September, the onions 
were harvested, and there were six hundred and fifty-one bushels. The 
entire expense of cultivating this acre of onions, including twenty-one dollars 
and thirty-seven cents, the cost of the manure, was fifty-seven dollars and 
thirty-e.ght cents. 77 
The work entitled Gleanings , <§*c., in Husbandry, directs to sow onions, if 
possible, in a dry time, and to tread them in, in light ground. 
Loudon says, 14 When onions are to be drawn young, two ounces of seed 
will be requisite for a bed four feet by twenty-four; hut when to remain for 
bulbing, one ounce will suffice for a bed five feet by twenty-four feet. 77 
Deane says, u The ground should be dug or plowed in autumn, not very 
deep; and then made very fine in the spring, and all the gross roots and 
roots of weeds taken out; then laid in beds four feet wide. Four rows ot 
holes are made in a bed, the rows ten inches apart, and the holes in the 
row's ten. About half a dozen seeds are put in a hole, or more if there be 
any danger of their not coming up well, and buried an inch under the surface. 
They will grow very well in bunches. Though the largest onions are those 
which grow singly some inches apart, those which are more crowded pro¬ 
duce larger crops; and the middle-sized onions are better for eating than the 
largest. 77 The last week in April is the proper time for sowing, according 
to this author. 
The course of culture recommended by Abercrombie for the summer, and 
what he calls winter-laid-by crops is as follows:— u Allot an open compart¬ 
ment, and lay it out in beds, from three to five feet in width. Sow broad¬ 
cast, equally over the rough surface, moderately thick, bed and bed sepa¬ 
rately, and rake in the seed lengthwise each bed, in a regular manner. 
When the plants are three or four inches high, in May and June, let them 
be timely cleared from w r eeds, and let the principal crop be thinned, eitb^ 
by hand, or with a small, tw r o-inch hoe; thinning the plants to intervals ot 
from three to five inches in the main crops designed for full bulbing, or 
some beds may remain moderately thick for drawing young, by successive 
thinnings, to the above distance. For the Spanish, from seed obtained im¬ 
mediately from Spain, the final distance should be six or seven inches. Keep 
the whole very clear from weeds, in their young and advancing state. The 
plants will begin bulbing a little in June, more fully in July, and be fully 
grown in August to large bulbs. In July or August, when the leaves begin 
to dry at the points and turn yellow, lay the stems down close to the ground, 
bending them about two inches up the neck, which promotes the ripening of 
the bulb, particularly in wet or backward seasons. The crop of full bulbers 
will be ready to take up towards the middle of August. When the necks 
shrink and the leaves decay, pull them wholly up in due time. Spread 
