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AMERICAN KITCHEN GARDENER. 
thvm on a compartment of dry ground, in the full sun, to dry and harden 
completely, turning them every two or three days, and in a week or fort¬ 
night they will he ready to house. Clear off the grossest part o/ the leaves, 
stalks and libers ; then deposit the bulbs in some close, dry apartment, in 
which sometimes turn them over, and pick out any that decay; and they 
will thus keep sound and good all winter and spring, till May following.’ 7 
Culture of a winter-standing crop to be drawn for use the succeeding spring. 
—“Allot a soil rather more light and sandy for the summer crop, on a sub¬ 
soil at least equally dry. The compartment, especially for any of the bien¬ 
nial kinds, should lie warm and sheltered. The beds may be three or four 
feet, wide, running parallel to the best aspect. The medium time for the 
principal sowing falls about the 7th of August, and, for a secondary crop, 
near the 25th Sow the bulbing sorts and the Welsh perennial separately; 
distribute the seed pre'ty thickly. If the soil be dry and light, tread down 
the seed evenly along the surface of each be-d, and then rake it in neatly 
When the plants are come up one, two, or three inches, carefully hand-weed 
in time, before any rising weeds spread; not thinning the plants, because 
they should remain thick, for their chance in winter, and to be, by degrees, 
drawn thinningly, for use in salads and otherwise; but reserve a principal 
supply to remain till spring. Observe, the Welsh onion, in particular, com¬ 
monly dies down to the ground about mid-winter; but the root part, remain¬ 
ing wholly sound, sends up a new, vigorous stem in February and March. 
At the opening of spring, let the whole of both sorts be well cleared from 
weeds; they will continue fit to draw young during all the spring months, 
till May; then let some of the bulbous kinds be thinned, to remain for early 
bulbing in June and July; but, as they will soon after shoot up in stalk, 
chey are chiefly for present use, not being eligible as keeping-onions.” 
To preserve onions through the winter, they may be tied together, form¬ 
ing what are called ropes or bunches of onions, and kept in a dry and cool 
cellar. Moisture rots, and warmth causes them to vegetate. A consider¬ 
able degree of cold will not injure them, for they resist frost in consequence 
of a spirituous substance of which they are in part composed. Searing their 
fibrous roots with a hot iron will prevent them from sprouting. 
To obtain seed from onions, they should be planted early in beds, about 
nine inches apart. The largest and soundest are best. They should be kept 
free from weeds ; and, when the heads of the flowers begin to appear, each 
plant must have a stake about four feet long, and its stems be loosely tied to 
the stake by a soft string; or the stems may be supported by stakes, six or 
eight feet apart, and pack-thread or rope-yarn fastened from one to the other, 
a little below the heads. When ripe, the heads are to be cut (or the seeds 
will shed) and spread in the sun, on coarse cloths, to dry—being, however, 
taken under shelter at night and in rain. When the seed is beaten out, it is 
to be dried one day in the sun, and then put in bags to preserve for sowing. 
