Year: 1879

Onion Culture.


A strong, deep and rich loamy soil is
best suited for the onion crop, but onions
will thrive in that which contains a
large proportion of clay. A light por-
Gus soil with gravelly substance should
be avoided. Onions will succeed equal
ly well any number of years on the
same ground if it is kept in condition
with fine yard manure every season and
treated to a top-dressing of wood-ashes
occasionally. This being the case, it is
recommended to select with reference to
cultivation the same field for an indefin-
ite time, as in SO doing the labor of first
preparation is avoided, and each succeed
ing crop is more easily cultivated, pro-
vided the previous work has been
thoroughly done. In addition to sugges-
tions already made, planters are advised
that the surface Of the ground should be
nearly or quite level, to prevent wash
ing. Ground that is strong ought to be
avoided, as well as that which is shady or
liable to be too wet to work early in the
spring.


Having selected the ground, the next
thing to be done is applying heavy coat
OF well-rOtted manure. If the soil is of
light sandy nature cow-manure will





very generally preferred, but stable
manure or common barnyard manure
well rotted will serve. The quantity to
the acre must be determined in part by
the condition and character Of the soil;
from twenty to thirty loads are usually
required at the beginning This may be
carted on and ploughed under in the fall
or in the spring previous to sowing
a cr lor1TI nd rllO aH fhc1 lon
it is next to be narrowed and raked until
smooth and even.


The main crop should be sown as early
as the ground is in working condition,
and whenever this occurs favorable
opportunity for putting in the seed
should not be permitted to pass, as the
earliest sown onions, other things being
equal, do the best. Sow the seed thick
ly and regularly, and cover with the soil
displaced in making the drills, which
soil should be well pulverized From
three to four pounds of seed per acre, or
one ounce to every one hundred feet,
is required for drill. Onion sets and
tops are placed on the surface in shallow
twelve-inch drills about four inches
apart, slightly covered. Small sets re-
quire about enc quart to twenty feet.
Not a few successful cultivators advo-
Gated planting onions in hills, thinking
this saves time in the after cultivation
When this mode is adopted from six to
eight seeds are planted in a hill.


Be careful what seed is sown; procure
it, when there is necessity of buying,
from trustworthy source. 1t should
not be over one year old. Choose the
variety most in demand in the markets
where you make your sales. The COM
mon red onion is a general favorite, and
the yellow Danvers has proved good
sort for home markets, as it keeps equal
to the beet during the winter. Among
other popular varieties are extra early
red, Wethersfield large red, yellow
Dutch and Southport white globe


No definite rule can be given for the
number of hoeings or weddings for the
onion crop. Suffice it to say, the oftener
the ground is stirred the better for the
crop. A top-dressing of wood-ashes ap-
piled after the second wedding is very
beneficial, as will soon be apparent in
the dark and healthy change of color
given to the plants.


For growing onion "sets" or =" button
onions the seed should be sown as early
as possible in the spring very thickly in
beds or drills. About the middle of
July Gin this latitude), or whenever the
tops die down, the little bulbs or setsn
can be gathered and kept spread thinly
in some dry and airy place.-NesO York
World.


Tree-Training.


The cutting or saving of large branches
from trees is an injury that none can ever
recover from, although some endure it
better than Others Our fruit trees have
quite enough to contend against from the
violent climatic changes to which they
are exposed in nearly all the country east
of the Rocky mountains, without their
owner and selfstyled ''cultivator am
putating their limbs-as an inquiring
friend proposes to do" to make them
thrive and bear" A tree should be
pruned as a child is trained. 1t must be
treated when young with steady atten-
ton, and corrected before i'll tendencies
have hardened into the actual maturity
of unyielding wood. 1t does not harm
child to cut its nails, or even to slap OF
pinch it little if the trifiing pain checks
its taking further steps into some bad
habit.


So with trees and vines. We can stop
redundant growth that threatens to rob
or choke bearing shoots, by pinch or
nip of the end on any summer day: but
if we 90 to cutting or removing leaves,
we do as much harm as if we iniure
child's vitals. The tree OF plant is the
more delicate of the two in one respect:
its vital organs are not encased but are
open, external and unprotected. This
will explain why the orchardist should
be very cautious in cases where total
neglect for years has caused inveterate
misgrowth. Any dead branches should
of course be removed; and it is best, in
that case, to endeavor to remove all
wood that shows signs Of decay, applying
to the wound as soon as the surface is
dry some waterproof coating to prevent
a stoppage of sap circulation by drying
from within or chemical decomposition
from admission of air, and not, as usually
explained, to prevent the entrance Of
moisture from without. Beyond this
all that can be done, with due respect to
the permanence of the tree, is thinning
of the shoots, and this is best done with
pruning


When the shoots are crowded, and
many of them are mere wood-shoots
without spurs. these should be removed
first, excepting all such as are growing
in open air and light, where they can de-
velop healthy, full-leafed fruit spurs.
When, on the contrary, there are but
very few mere wood-shcots of last wear