VEGETABLE GARDEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20675, 13 March 1937, Page 14 (Supplement)

VEGETABLE GARDEN

ONIONS Onions should have ripened, or should be ripening now, and, as soon as they are fit, they can be pulled, spread out on the ground or the path for a day should the weather be dry, and then stored in a cool, airy shed. They can be spread out thinly on shelves or In boxes, or they can be bleated into a rope and hung up. Should they be still green and show no signs of ripening, they can be hurried by twisting the tops a bit and bending them over, or half of the roots can be cut with a scuffle hoe. This is also the time to make a sowing of onion seed to provide plants which will stand over the winter and be ready for transplanting in the spring. The ground need not be as rich as that required for maturing the bulbs, but it should be well drained, deeply cultivated and made both fine and firm. It should be dug over first, then dusted over the surface with lime, wood ashes, and a little phosphates, and these worked in with the rake when breaking down the soil and making it fine. Tramp all over the ground to make it firm, and if very dry give a good watering. The seed can be sown broadcast on a bed or in drills, but I prefer drills, which allow hoeing and cultivating in between to be carried out, and both operations are very necessary to keep the soil open and aerated. With the corner of the hoe make little drills about half an inch in depth, at a distance of from 12 to 15 inches apart. Sow the seed thinly and cover with fine soil, making it firm with the head of the rake and smooth on the surface. Giant Rocca or Giant Gittau are recommended for autumn sowing, but Brown Spanish Is also suitable.