practical papers —market gardening. 41 i 
planting, but plant only those kinds that will not be injured by the 
late spring frosts. The ground may be frozen an inch deep after 
peas and onions are up, without their being injured. Beets, pars¬ 
nips, carrots, radishes, turnips, as well as some other plants, will 
endure an ordinary spring frost without injury, while beans, toma¬ 
toes, egg plant, melons, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and some others, 
are very sensitive to cold, and will sometimes become so chilled 
by the cold air, even without any frost, that they will never en¬ 
tirely recover from it. 
Putting the seeds in the ground is a small job, compared with 
what it was years ago. A good boy, 15 or 16 years old, with a 
good Harrington or Comstock seed sower, will sow an acre of 
ground in a day with the small seeds, and will do the work better 
than twenty men will do the same work by hand. Upon my light 
soil I sow the small seeds about an inch in depth, and of onion 
seed from 3J to 4 pounds per acre; the rows 14 inches apart; 
early carrots and radishes, 12 inches; beets, 16 inches; parsnips, 
18 inches between the rows, and with all of them we regulate the 
machine so that it will drop from one to two seeds per inch in the 
rows, as you will find it much easier to destroy some of the young 
plants, than to fill the vacancies if there are not enough. Peas 
should be among the first of seeds in the ground. The same may 
be said of onions, not only for the early ones, but for the late or 
main crop. With regard to this crop, there are three things that 
are absolute necessities ; and I have never yet seen what I call a 
good crop of onions where either of the three had been neglected. 
The first of these is very rich ground, the second is to get them 
in very early, so that they may have the cool, damp weather of 
spring to get started; the last requisite is thorough cultivation, 
and this, too, at the right time. I consider the onion crop about 
as sure as any crop I raise, if the conditions necessary for a good 
crop are complied with, but, if they are not, complete failure is 
an almost absolute certainty. By the time these hardy, and half 
hardy crops are in the ground, it will be .late enough to plant early 
potatoes and put out your early cabbage, for I am taking it for 
granted that you have a good set of hot-beds, or else, what is still 
better, a hot-house, where you have been getting a fine lot of cab¬ 
bage, cauliflower and tomato plants, as well as other things, ready 
