The Savannah morning news., 1903-04-06

when neglected or ignorantly cared
for.
The soil should be rich, fine, and,
if possible, clear of weeds and coarse
manure. The seedlings are most deli
cate and hard to distinguish when very
young; they require much wedding by
hand and consequently one can easily
understand why clean and Well-cared
for ground is really needed, so as to
make the labor as easy as possible,
not only a this time, but all through
the season.
l think old land is preferable to new,
and year after year l have used the
same spot and found the results very
satisfactory. Yet l have been told by
some older in experience that there is
danger of insect enemies, as well as
disease, if land is used too long with
out change. Yet 1 firmly believe that
any land that has been for any great
length Of time under high cultivation,
with heavy manuring and is therefore
comparatively clean, will give good re-
suits in growing onions.
There has been advocated by several
well-known onion growers what is call
ed The New onion Culture" raising
the plants under glass and then trans
planting them to the field, but l doubt
if this is done to any great extent out
side of individual experiments for pri-
Ndle use. / ct we nave lIleu II anu
found it to give very good results.
If there is anything we delight in it
is to have our rows as straight as pos
sible, and so we lay out our first row
with line for either sets or young plants
as well as drilling our seed, and then
have a tooth marker, which we drag
towards US as we move backwards,
keeping an eye on the line, and so pull
it by jerking, marking at least four
y.,v of ffv,,a 10 mot p1lr
drill marker at all. All our rows are
fifteen inches apart.
Cultivation is commenced as soon as
the plants show, and then hand weed
ing follows, and every two weeks we
expect Off not even soOner) to hoe and
cultivate the soil as to keep it mellow,
never allowing the weeds to become
much in evidence and we try at all
times not to iniure the tops, as this
will be likely to cause them to ripen
before they are fully grown.
We generally use a quick fertilizer
when about half grown and cultivate
this in and also supply a small guam
tity of nitrate of soda, scattering same
over the ground, trying to do this on
the approach of rain, so that same
will be quickly carried to the feeding
roots.
Onion sets are our standby, for we
find We can get our bulbs much quick
er than from seed We plant gener-
ally as soon as we can work the ground
in the spring. After it is thoroughly
prepared we work it off same as for
sowing the seed, and use a dibble in
setting out our sets. AS soon as they
begin to show in a green line, we put
in our wheel hoe and keep the soil
well stirred up and free from weeds.
In our trials of varieties on a small
scale, we generally sow our seed in
March in hot bed and then transplant
the seedlings to the open ground, just
as soon as we possibly can do so. We
find we can then have our land clean
and can raise many varieties that will
not do so well outside. Certain classes
of people appear to have a fad for a
certain color. and on that decide the
variety they prefer; we have always
had a dislike for the red, but prefer
the yellow to the white.
For general use perhaps there is
more Red Wethersfield raised than any
other Yet the Yellow Danvers
is a grand variety for every purpose.
The Egyptian onions are quite hardy,
and, while not grown for their devel-
opment as a ripened bulb. are largely
used very early in the season for the
bleached part while in the tender green
state. The Egyptian is peculiar in
growing no seed, but rather a cluster
of small onions where the seed should
be. We find by planting these small
sets early in the fall that they winter
well, and when pulled in the spring,
make a very handsome appearance
when punched and are exceedingly
tender and palatable to eat raw.