inches apart, according to the character of
the sort and the size of bulbs required. The drills must be drawn across
the bed, at right angles to the alleys, for when drawn the other way it
is difficult to keep the ground properly weeded. For a crop of Onions
intended for storing, the seed should be only just covered with fine
earth taken from the alleys and thrown over, after which the drills must
be lightly trodden, the surface again touched over with the rake, and if
the soil is dry and works nicely, the business may be finished by gently
patting the bed all over with the back of the spade. If the ground is
damp or heavy, this final touch may be omitted, as the Onion makes a
weak grass that cannot easily push through earth that is caked over it.
But speaking generally, an Onion bed newly sown should be quite smooth
as if finished with a roller. To the beginner this will appear a
protracted and complicated story, but the expert will attest that Onions
require and will abundantly pay for special management.

As soon as possible after the crop is visible the ground between should
be delicately chopped over with the hoe to check the weeds that will
then be rising. Immediately the rows are defined a first thinning should
be made with a small hoe, care being taken to leave a good plant on the
ground. The next thinning will produce young Onions for saladings, and
this kind of thinning may be continued by removing plants equally all
over the bed to insure an even crop, the final distance for bulbing
being about six inches. Keep the hoe at work, for if weeds are allowed
to make way, the crop will be seriously injured. When Onions are doing
well they lift themselves up and =sit= on the earth, needing light and
air upon their bulbs to the very axis whence the roots diverge. If weeds
spread amongst them the bulbs are robbed of air and light, and their
keeping properties are impaired. But in the use of the hoe it is
important not to loosen the ground or to draw any earth towards the
bulbs. When all the thinning has been done, and the weeds are kept down,
it will perhaps be observed that in places there are clusters of bulbs
fighting for a place and rising out of the ground together as though
enjoying the conflict. With almost any other kind of plant this crowding
would bode mischief, but with Onions it is not so. Bulbs that grow in
crowds and rise out of the ground will never be so large as those that
have plenty of room, but they