178 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Mar., 1898. 
prepared in this manner no good results need be expected. The onion requires 
a firm bed; otherwise the plant, instead of making a large well-shaped bulb, 
‘will run to neck, and haye more the appearance of a leek than of an onion. 
Therefore, the land before being planted must be well solidified by rolling. 
THE SEED BED. 
Onions may be sown broadcast, or they may be drilled in, or they may 
be sown in a seed bed and afterwards planted out in the same manner as 
cabbages. The best way is to drill them in. In this case, about 2 lb. of seed 
per acre will be required. The seeds must be dropped at a distance of about 
2 inches apart in the drill, and the drills should be from 12 inches to 15 
inches distant from each other. The plants will afterwards require thinning 
out with the hoe. When sown in a seed bed, planting out must be resorted to 
—a tedious process, but one that pays well for doing well. P 
On rich soil the plants may be 6 inches apart. The drills should be 
slightly raised, and the roots of the plant firmly embedded in it—allow the 
bulb to, as it were, squat on, not under the surface. As the plant grows, the 
soil must be kept perfectly clear of weeds, and, where the working of the 
ground has thrown the soil against the bulbs, it must be drawn down, so that 
only the root is in the ground. Where this has not been attended to, the 
remedy for the resulting want of bulb formation is to wring the necks of the 
plants, or, at least, to bend them down with a twist. This will have the effect 
of inducing the formation of bulbs. 
When sowing the seed, care should be taken that they are not covered to 
more than their own depth. If sown deep, many seeds fail to germinate, and 
most of those that do appear will make an abnormal growth of neck, causing 
much labour in drawing away the soil from the incipient bulbs. The writer 
has never sown onions broadcast, and therefore offers no opinion on the value 
of the method. Of course more seed would be required per acre, and, if weeds 
are troublesome, a good deal of hand work would be necessary. 
Now about the seed. There are few seeds so annoyingly deceptive as 
onion seed. So difficult was it to get good seed in the colony even at 10s. 
per lb. in the good ould days, that growers imported it from Spain. ‘The largest 
growers at Oxley, Messrs. Martindale and Nosworthy, were most successful with 
imported seed, but the writer had a very bad experience in this business. 
Twenty pounds weight of onion seed was sent from a friend in Germany. 
Instead of packing it in hermetically sealed bottles, he stowed it in calico bags 
in the body of an immense wooden Swiss cuckoo clock. When the clock was 
opened the bags of seed were examined and looked perfect in colour and shape; 
but, alas! when subjected to pressure, no oily fatness was perceived; and when 
at last it was given a chance and sown thickly in drills, five acres returned the 
. magnificent yield of 72 1b., which, at the rate of £28 per ton, amounted to 18s. 
Certainly, the land, after a week’s waiting for the seed to germinate, was 
utilised otherwise, but not 1 cwt. of onions was harvested. 
Make sure, therefore, of the seed. After sowing, it should germinate in 
less than a week. 
In former days large onions were always aimed at, but now the public 
taste is in favour of medium-sized bulbs, so that closer planting may be 
adopted. 
Onions may be known to be ripe by the drying up of the tops. As soon 
as this happens, take them up by hand and leave them on the ground between 
the rows to dry. As soon as they are dry, carry them carefully with as little 
bruising as possible to the barn. 
As before stated, the Brown Spanish has provedsmost successful in this 
colony, but the gentlemen above mentioned grew what they called the large 
White Portugal onion. It certainly was a splendid bulb, and fetched very high 
prices in the markets of Brisbane, Maryborough, and Rockhampton. 
