Occupations > Abercrombie's improved practical gardener; with a monthly calendar for the flower garden

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ONION.
row in the same way, and so on till the whole is
complete, and should the weather prove dry,
water them gently now and then. The plants
will soon begin to appear through the covering,
when the soil may be stirred about them by light
hoeing, being careful at the same time not to cut
or wound any of the bulbs in the operation.
They will be at their full growth about the same
time as the spring-sown ones, and the same crite¬
rion is to be observed as to their maturity, after
which they must be managed in the same way in
all respects.
To have young Onions to draw off in spring,
for salads, &c. the Deptford and Strasburg are
most proper sorts of the bulbing kinds, but the
Welsh is the most hardy. For this purpose allot
a spot of ground that is rather more light than
that for the summer crop, and lying on a dry
subsoil, and in a warm sheltered situation, and
the beds may be three or four feet wide, to suit
convenience; the best time for sowing is the
same as that for cabbage seed, viz. from the fifth
to the twelfth of August, making a general rule
to sow both on a day, if all circumstances allow.
Distribute the seed very thick, and rake it in
evenly, without treading, as recommended and
practised by some.—When the plants are come
up, weeding must be carefully attended to,
before the weeds spread and over-run the
ground, but the plants should not be thinned,
but remain thick for their chance in winter, and
to be thinned by degrees as required for salads