War Gardens: A Pocket Guide for Home Vegetable Growers

by Montague Free

Onion.—There are two ways of producing a crop of onions—from “sets” and from seed. “Sets” are small onions produced by sowing seed very thickly in rather poor soil and allowing the plants to mature as they stand. This results in a crop of small bulbs which are stored over the winter and sold the following spring as onion “sets.” There are two methods of raising onions from seed. The plants may be obtained by sowing the seed in a greenhouse in February, transplanting the seedlings to the open ground in April. The procedure most commonly followed, however, is to plant the seeds in rows a foot apart, in the position where they are to mature, as early as possible in the spring. When the young plants appear they are thinned to four inches apart. If the seedlings are left until they are the thickness of a lead-pencil they may be pulled and used as a salad in the form of bunch onions.

A crop can be produced earlier by the use of “sets.” These are planted in furrows two inches deep, spacing them two inches apart. The soil is then drawn over them and firmed. After some growth has been made, alternate plants may be pulled out and used as salad, leaving the remainder to mature.

Thorough preparation of the soil is essential to achieve success in growing onions. It should be dug up as deeply as possible, thoroughly pulverized, and afterward compacted by rolling with a garden roller or by tramping. Onions succeed best on soil which is fairly retentive of moisture and rich in nitrogen. Top-dressings of hen or sheep manure, or of nitrate of soda, are beneficial to this crop. Remember what has been said previously with regard to taking care not to apply too much of any of these fertilizers. Weeding is a very important operation in connection with onion-growing, and some of it, when the weeds are close to or in the rows, has to be done by hand. If the weeds are allowed to obtain a headway the crop will suffer greatly in consequence.

In wet seasons, and when planted in rich, retentive soils, the bulbs sometimes fail to mature at the proper time. When they show signs of growing too late in the fall, it is customary to go over the plot and break over the tops. This can be done by dragging a board over the onion-bed, or, if the plot is a small one, it may be done by hand. This process arrests growth and causes the bulbs to mature so that they are suitable for winter storage. Immature bulbs will not keep properly.

Standard varieties of onion are Yellow Danvers and Southport Globe, which can be obtained in red, white, and yellow forms. Prize-taker is a very large, mild onion which succeeds best when started in a greenhouse.

Parsley succeeds best in a clay loam soil that has been well fertilized with stable manure. The seeds are slow to germinate and it is frequently four or five weeks before the young plants show themselves above the ground. Growth may be hastened by soaking the seeds in tepid water for twenty-four hours before sowing them. They should be planted in rows a foot apart and the young plants thinned to stand six inches apart. Champion Moss Curled is a good variety.

Parsnip.—A long season is required for the development of large roots. The seeds should be sown in April in rows from fifteen to eighteen inches apart, afterward thinning the seedlings so that they stand six inches apart. The seeds are slow in germinating and it is a good plan to sow a few seeds of radish in the drill with them. The radishes germinate quickly and serve to break the surface crust and to mark the row so that cultivation may be performed close to the row without disturbing the parsnip seeds. The radishes are mature and can be pulled and used for the table by the time the parsnips have appeared above the ground.

A deep, loamy soil is most suited for the production of parsnips. In a shallow soil the roots are likely to be stunted and misshapen. The following method of producing extra-large and well-shaped roots is sometimes used by exhibitors of vegetables. Holes about two feet deep and three inches in diameter at the top are made in the ground with a crowbar at intervals of about nine inches. These holes are filled with sifted fertile earth, and three or four seeds planted in each. When the seedlings appear, all but the strongest are pulled out. This method is only to be recommended when it is desired to walk off with the prize for the best parsnips at the county fair or the town vegetable show. Hollow Crown is a good variety.

Peas are essentially a cool-weather crop, and they especially resent hot, dry conditions at the root. For this reason the seeds should be planted just as soon as the ground is workable in the spring. The dwarf varieties can be planted in double rows about six inches apart, leaving a space of eighteen inches or two feet between each double row. The tall varieties, which need support of some kind, may be planted in the same way, but a space varying from three to five feet must be allowed between the rows, according to the height of the variety planted. The taller the variety, the greater is the necessity for ample space between the rows.

It is said to be possible to produce a crop of peas in the fall by sowing the seeds in August, but the writer has never seen much success attained with a crop at this season; at any rate, not in the vicinity of New York. For a late crop of peas it is advisable to dig a trench from six to eight inches deep and sow the seeds in this, covering them with two inches of soil, as usual. Water them thoroughly if the weather is dry. As the plants grow the earth should be gradually drawn into the trench until it is filled up to the surrounding level. This system is adopted so that the roots may be well down in the earth and thus protected from the hot rays of the sun. This is also a good method to adopt for late spring plantings of peas.