The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-18
surface, being lightly narrowed In after the
soil hsS been plowed

surface, being lightly narrowed In after the
soil hsS been plowed.
The best known American kinds are the
'tYellow Danvers, - the RED Wethersfeld,n
the Extra Early Red, the white Globe"
gardeners after q good trial Of the Italian
Varieties usually discard the American
sorts and settle down upon two or three OF
the Italian as the most profitable for their
use. Our experience began with these some
fifteen years ago, and we have had reason
to recommend their use many hundred of
times, and do not remember having ever
heard complaint against them by any
good gardener. The best varieties Of these
are the white Queen, "Barly Nocera,"
''Giant Rocca." white and Red Tripoli"
Two good Amerioanized sorts are the prize
Takerh and the ''Silver King" A variety
of recent introduction is the Extra Early
Barletta," very like the "White Queen"
but smaller and earlier than it, maturing
two weeks earlier. OF the "Giant
Red Rocca" there are two sub
varieties, the yellow and the brown,
and the variety known as the "Silver Ball"
is also called the "WhiteR occa." They are
globular in form, grow to very large size and
are of very mild and delicate flavor. Time
and again we have grown them from SOW
iugs in the fall to weigh from eighteen to
twenty pounds per dozen.
For ordinary use tbs not desirable, how
ever, TO have them so large, and the aim
should be rather to have three onions averag-
ing six or seven ounces than to have one
Weighing pound or more. To get these very
large onions it is necessary, generally, TO
thin out to twelve or fifteen inches in the
row, and, as q smaller onion is better, both
for home and market it is better to have
three or four growing in that space An
onion averaging four ounces is plenty large
for culinary purposes; Is more easily cooked
done, and keaps better when stored away.
The use of sets is very general In the
south, but the cropi produced from them
does not keep we'll, and is quite likely often
| times to prove an entire failure, from their
disposition to shoot to seed before making
bulbs This is always the case when the
| sets are grown from seed saved from poor
| bulbs. There is always a great difference in
| the quality OF sets, some will make onions,
and some will not. When it is desired to
grow a crop to maturity and to preserve it
to some time afterward it should be
made from seed sown in January or
| FEBRUARY. March sowings frequently do
| well, depending upon the character of the
spring, whether abnormally late or early.
A plan that we have adopted for some years,
and one that has always produced the very
| best results, is to sow fresh seed OF some
| of these Italian varieties in the autumn,
l
during the severe weather of winter and
then transplanting them In January and
| February, and as late as March.
The finest and most profitable crops we
| have ever grown, were made after this
method, and one which we shall follow as
| long as we continue to grow this vegetable.
| Onions made according to this plan keep
| much better than those grown from sets.
In the small garden where horse culture
| Is not resorted to, the rows for onions need
| not be over twelve or fifteen inches apart,
| and the onions can stand five or six inches
in the row. If the crop seems to need addi-
| tional food, as may be indicated by slow
growth and pale color, top dressing of
suitable manu- Q can be applied and worked
| in by shallow culture some time after the
crop has been started.
In field culture the following mode of
| procedure is perhaps as good as any: After
the soil has been plowed and the broad
casted manure narrowed in, lay off rows
| two feet apars with a small shovel or
| scooter. Some may prefer the rows wider
apart than this, and If good land is plepti-
| full three feet would be better. List on
| these burrows with the same shovel or
| scooter and then throw broadcast along
this list 500 pounds, 500 to 1000 of this
| mixture, to wit 500 pounds cotton hull
ashes, 1000 pounds ferro bone (bone dust
300 pounds acid phosphate, 200 pounds cot
| ton seed meal
Draw shallow drills in the center of the
list, SOW the seed, two to four pounds, &C
cording to quality, cover lightly, and roll
the seed bed with garden roller an iron
bound barrel rolled along the narrow beds,
in the absence of a roller, answers the pur-
pose very nicely. A top dressing of nitrate
| of soda, $50 to 200 pounds per acre, is
usually very profitable application on
] any soil that is not fairly rich, but it
should not be applied until the plants have
begun active growth. Forestall the growth
| of all weeds by frequent shallow cultiva-
ton, drawing the soil away from the plants
about the tune they are half grown, or a
little later, as they make much finer bulbs
when grown on the top OF the soil. The
method pursued with q transplanted crop
| we will describe in another number.