350° * QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAND. [1 May, 1898. 
here be careful that the word ‘ onion” appears in the slot of the machine. 
This machine will open the drill, sow the seed, cover it, roll it down, and mark 
the next drill, ali in one operation. 
Sow the seed to a depth of 2 inches, according to the weather (and take 
great care when sowing to keep the rows straight, otherwise the crop will be cut 
up when machine-hoeing). IJfit be showery weather, 1 inch is deep enough. 
In from nine to twenty days the young onions will appear above ground; 
they come up looped, resembling a blade of grass. 
The distance between the rows should be 18 inches for the Barletta and 
16 inches for the Mat Red. 
Sow any time from the Ist March until the 15th of April. After the 
latter date it is too late to get early onions. 
The quantity of seed per acre required is about 4 1b. 
Sowing broadcast on the North Coast means almost certain failure. 
CULTIVATION. 
As soon as the young onions appear above ground, and the rows can be 
followed, take the machine hoe and carefully go through them, straddling the 
rows. ‘This will require to be done weekly for the first six weeks, carefully 
pulling out any weeds in the rows by hand. At six weeks old the onions 
should be large enough to be thinned out, say, to 6 inches apart for the 
Barletta and 4 inches for the Flat Red, filling up any gaps there may be in 
the rows by transplanting, but don’t transplant when a cold westerly wind is 
blowing, as the wind will perish the young onions quicker than the sun. 
After six weeks, the onions will be too large to straddle; then both hoes 
must be used in the same row. One hoeing every three weeks will serve to 
keep the ground loose and open. 
By September the onions will be too large to get through with the machine 
hoe, their leaves entirely covering the ground. If the land is clean, no more 
cultivation will be required. Keep all the seed heads broken out as they 
appear, as they destroy the bulb by making it pipey. The two varieties 
mentioned will not require to have their necks twisted or broken down in any 
way, as they are perfect bulbers. 
HARVESTING. 
If sown early, go through the crop about the end of October, and lift any 
oniops of which the leaves are dying away. They will then, if properly 
grown, have fine thin necks and beautiful flat bulbs; be careful not to bruise 
them. Top and tail them in the field, and don’t put more than about 70 ~ 
or 80 lb. in a bag. Cart them to the shed, and spread out thinly on 
saplings, so that the air can come through off the ground. In two or three 
days they will be dry enough for market. It will take quite six or seven 
weeks before the whole of the crop is off, harvesting it as it ripens. 
THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 
Axrnovuer this tuber does well in most parts of Queensland, it is not often 
seen in the greengrocers’ shops, presumably because the public taste has not 
yet been educated to it. There can be no question of its excellence and 
delicacy of flavour as a vegetable. It is very easily cultivated, and will thrive 
where no other crop would come to perfection. It should be planted annually, 
and well repays good culture. Although it will thrive and yield good tubers 
on any soil, still, like most plants, it has its preference, and that is for a fairly 
stiff loam. But in this case deep cultivation is of advantage to the crop. 
Our black and chocolate soils do not demand that they shall be manured for 
artichokes, but to a sandy soil manure should be applied. 
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