ONIONS
Of this well-known garden vegetable there are quite a number of varieties.
1. The Large Red.—One of the most valuable.
2. The Yellow.—Large and profitable, keeping better than any other.
3. The Silver-skin.—The handsomest variety, excellent for pickling, brings the highest price of all, but is not quite so good a keeper as the red or yellow, and does not yield as well.
4. The White Portugal.—A larger white onion, often taken for the true silver-skin. It is a good variety. The preceding are all raised from the black seed, growing on the top.
5. The Egg Onion.—So called from its size and shape. On good rich soil, the average size may be that of a goose-egg, which it resembles in form. It is of a pale-red color, and more mild in flavor than any other. They are usually raised by sowing the black seed, very thick, to form sets for next year. Those sets, put out early, will form large onions for early market, that will sell more readily than any other offered.
6. The Top Onion.—So called because the seed consists of small onions, growing on the top of the stalks, in place of the black seed of other onions. These are good for early use, grow large, but are poor keepers.
7. The Hill or Potato Onion.—Of these there are several kinds, most of which are unworthy of cultivation. The Large English is the only valuable variety. The small onions, for sets, grow in the ground from the same roots, by the side of the main onion. Some of these grow large enough for cooking. The main onion is the earliest known, grows large, and has a mild, pleasant flavor;—they will mature at a certain season, whatever time you plant them; hence, they must be planted very early to produce a good crop. We have planted them on good ground so late as to get little more than the seed. They are fine for summer and fall use, but keep poorly. The foregoing are all that are necessary. They can all be brought forward by early planting of sets raised the previous season, by sowing the black seed so thick that they can not grow larger than peas, or small cherries.
Good sandy loam and black muck are the best soils for onions. Any good garden soil may be made to produce large crops; good, well rotted stable-manure and leached ashes are the best. The theory of shallow plowing, and treading down onion-beds is incorrect. The roots of onions are numerous and long. The land should be well-manured, double-plowed, and thoroughly pulverized. The only objection to a very mellow onion-bed is the difficulty of getting the seed up: this is obviated by rolling after sowing, which packs the mould around the seed, so as to retain moisture and insure vegetation. Fine manure, mixed in the surface of the soil for onions, is highly beneficial; on no other crop does manure on the surface do so much good. Mulching the whole bed, as soon as the plants are large enough, is in the highest degree beneficial, both in promoting growth, and keeping down weeds. An onion-bed must be made very smooth and level, to favor very early hoeing, without destroying the small plants. All root-crops that come up small, are tended with less than half the expense, if the surface be made very smooth and level. Never divide your onion-ground into small beds, but sow the longest way, in straight narrow rows, eighteen inches apart, for convenience of weeding and hoeing. Cultivate while very young, and work the soil toward the rows, so as to hill up the plants; this should be removed after they begin to form large bulbs. Breaking down the tops to induce them to bottom, is a fallacy: it will lessen the crop. Rich soil, deep plowing, thorough pulverizing, early sowing, and frequent hoeings, will insure success. Our system of double-plowing is the best for this crop. They will do equally well, some say improve, for twenty years on the same bed. Work the tops into the soil where the plants grow. Let the rows be very narrow and very straight, and you will save half the ordinary expense of cultivation.
To gather and preserve well, you should house them when very dry. A day's exposure to a warm autumn sun is very beneficial. Keep them in an open barn or shed until there is danger of frost. A warm, damp cellar always ruins them; keep them through winter in the coolest dry place possible, without severe freezing. Once freezing is not injurious, but frequent freezing and thawing ruins them. They are very finely preserved braided into strings and hung in a cool, dry room.
ORANGES
This name covers a variety of species of the same general habits. It flourishes well on the coast of Florida, and all along the gulf of Mexico. It will stand considerable freezing, if protected from sudden thawing. In southern Europe, they are grown abundantly by being protected by a shed of boards. They may become perfectly hardy, as far north as Philadelphia. And by a thorough system of acclimation, and a little winter protection, they may be grown abundantly, in every state of the Union. The great enemy of the orange-tree is the scaled insect. It has been very destructive in Florida. A certain remedy is said to have been discovered in the camomile. Cultivate the plant under orange-trees, and it will prevent their attacks. The herb hung up in the trees, or the tree and foliage syringed with a decoction of it, will effectually destroy these insects. The orange is long-lived. A tree called "The Grand Bourbon" at Versailles was planted in 1421, and now, being 437 years old, is "one of the largest and finest trees in France." There are several varieties mentioned in the fruit books. The common Sweet Orange, the Maltese, the Blood Red—very fine with red flesh. The Mandarin Orange, an excellent little fruit from China. The St. Michael's is described as the finest of all oranges, and the tree the best bearer. Oranges are propagated by budding, and cultivated much in the same way as the peach.
ORCHARDS
An orchard is a plat of ground, large or small, occupied by trees for the purpose of bearing fruit. The main directions for orchard culture, are given under the respective fruits. Any soil good for vegetables or grains, is suitable for orchards. Any land where excessive moisture will not stand, to the injury of the trees, may be adapted to any of the fruits. Set pears on the heaviest land, peaches on the lightest, and the other fruits on the intermediate qualities. Although peaches will do quite well on light soil, yet they do better on a rich deep loam, or alluvium. When it is desirable to set out an orchard on land originally too wet, a blind ditch must pass under each row, extending out of the orchard, and the place where each tree is to stand, should be raised a foot above the level around it.
The aspect is also important. A southern or eastern exposure is preferable, in all latitudes where the transitions from summer to winter, and from winter to summer are so sudden as to allow but little alternate thawing and freezing. This would therefore be the rule in high latitudes. In climates of long changeable springs, a northern or western exposure is better. Trees may be made to start and blossom later in the spring by snow and ice about them, well pressed down in winter, and covered with straw. This will prevent the first warm weather from starting the leaves and blossoms, and cause them to be a little later, but surer and better.
Subsoiling ground for an orchard, is of great importance. Plant two orchards, one on land that has been subsoiled very deep, and the other upon that plowed in the ordinary way, and for ten years the difference will be discernable, as far as you can distinguish the trees in the two orchards.
Manures of all kinds, are good for orchards, except coarse stable manure, which should be composted. A bushel of fine charcoal, thoroughly mixed in the soil in which you set a fruit-tree, will exert a very beneficial influence, for a dozen years.
Orchards should be cultivated every alternate three successive years, and the rest of the time be kept in grass. Just about the trees, the ground should be kept loose, and free from weeds and grass. This may be done by spading and hoeing, but better by thorough mulching.
Distances apart.—Apples thirty-three feet. Pears twenty feet. Peaches and plums, sixteen feet. Pruning, destroying insects, and all other matters bearing on successful fruit growing, are treated under the several fruits.
OXEN
Every farmer who can afford to keep two teams, should have a pair of oxen. For many uses on a farm, they are preferable to horses; especially for clearing up new land. Oxen to be most valuable, should be large, well matched, ruly, and not very fat. They should be kept in good heart, by the quality of their food. Fast walking is one of the best qualities in both horses and oxen, for all working purposes, provided they are judiciously used and not overloaded. Well built, strong animals are best for work. Working oxen should be turned out for beef, at eight or nine years old.
To break oxen well, commence when they are very young. Put calves into yokes frequently, until they will readily yield to your wishes. Yoke them often, and tie their tails together to prevent them from turning the yoke and injuring themselves. If left without training, until they are three or four years old, they will improve every opportunity to run away, to the danger and damage of proprietor and driver. It is quite an art to learn oxen to back a load. Place them before a vehicle, in a locality descending in the rear. As it rolls down hill, they will easily learn to follow, backward. Then try them on level ground. Then accustom them to back up hill, and finally to back a load, almost as heavy as they can draw.
Breaking vicious animals is always best done by gentleness. We have known vicious horses whipped severely, and in every way treated harshly, and finally given up as useless. We have seen those same horses, in other hands, brought to be regular, gentle, and safe, as could be desired, by mild means, without a blow or harsh word. Oxen should be driven in a low tone of voice, and without much use of the goad. The usual manner of driving, by whipping and bawling, to the annoyance of the whole neighborhood, and until the driver becomes hoarse with his perpetual screams, is one of the most pernicious habits on a farm. Oxen will grow lazy and insensible under threat, or scream, or goad. Driven in a low tone of voice, without confusion by rapid commands, and no whoa put in, unless you wish them to stand still, oxen may be made more useful on a farm than horses. Their gears are cheap and never in the way. They can draw more and in worse places than horses, and it costs less to keep them. The various methods of drawing with head or horns, in vogue in other countries, need not be discussed here, as the American people will not probably change their yoke and bows for any other method.
Feed oxen, as other animals, regularly, both in time and quantity. Curry them often and thoroughly. It improves their looks, health, and temper, and attaches them to their owner.
PARSLEY
This is a hardy biennial, highly prized as a garnish, and as a pot-herb for flavoring soups and boiled dishes. The large-rooted variety is used for the table, as carrots or parsnips. The principal varieties are—the double-curled, the dwarf-curled, the Siberian (single, very hardy, and fine-flavored), the Hamburgh (large-rooted, used as an edible root). The double-curled is well known, easily obtained, and suitable for all purposes. Those who desire the roots instead of parsnips, &c., should cultivate the Hamburgh or large-rooted. It needs the same treatment as beets. Seed should always be of the previous year's growth, or it may not vegetate. It is four or five weeks in coming up, unless it be soaked twelve hours in a little sulphur-water, when it will vegetate in two weeks. By cutting the leaves close, even, and regular, a succession of fine leaves may be had for a whole year from the same plants, when they will go to seed, and new ones should take their place. In cold climates they should be covered in winter with straw or litter. The Siberian is cultivated in the field, sown with grass or the small grains. It is said to prevent the disease called "the rot" in sheep, and is good for surfeited horses. The large-rooted should not be sowed in an excessively rich soil, as it produces an undue proportion of tops.
PARSNIPS
English authors speak of but one variety of this root in cultivation in England. The French have three—the Coquaine, the Lisbonaise, and the Siam. The first runs down, in rich mellow soil, to the depth of four feet, and grows from six to sixteen inches in circumference; the Lisbonaise is shorter and larger round; the Siam is smaller than the others, of a yellowish color, and of excellent quality. We are not aware that our little hollow-crown carrot, so early and good, is included in the French varieties. We cultivate only the hollow-crown, and a common large variety; both are good for the table, and as food for animals. They need a light, deep, rich soil. A sandy loam is best, as for all roots. Seed kept over one season seldom vegetates. Should be soaked a day or two, and sown in straight rows, covered an inch deep, and the rows slightly rolled. It is much better, with this and the carrot, to sow radish-seed in the same rows. They come up so soon that they protect the parsnips and carrots from too hot a sun while tender, and also serve to mark the rows, so that they may be hoed early, without danger of destroying the young plants. Parsnips may be grown many years on the same bed without deterioration, provided a little decomposed manure or compost be annually added. Fresh manure is good if it be buried a foot deep. The yield will be greater if thinned to eight inches apart. Rows two feet apart, and the plants six inches in the row, are most suitable in field-culture. They will grow till frost comes, and are better for the table, when allowed to stand in the ground through the winter. They may be dug and preserved as other roots. Parsnips contain more sugar than any other edible root, and are therefore worth more per bushel for food. All domestic animals and fowls fatten on them very rapidly, and their flesh is peculiarly pleasant. Fed to cows, they increase the quantity of milk, and impart a beautiful color and agreeable flavor to the butter. It is superior to the beet, that we have so highly recommended elsewhere, in all respects except one—it is less easily tended and harvested. Still, they should be cultivated on every farm where cattle, hogs, or fowls, are kept.
PASTURES
These are very important to all who keep domestic animals. The following brief directions for successful pasturing are essential. It is very poor economy to have all your pasture-lands in one field, or to put all your animals together. Pasture fields in rotation, two weeks each, allowing rest and growth for six weeks: first horned cattle, next horses, then sheep. Horses feed closer than cattle, and sheep closer than horses; each also eats something that the others do not relish. Pasturing land with sheep thickens the grass on the ground. For the kinds of grass preferable for pastures, see our article on Grasses. Plaster sown on pastures containing clover, materially increases their growth. A little lime, plaster, and common salt, sown on any pasture, will prove very beneficial. Streams or springs in pastures double their value. The idea that creatures need no water when feeding on green grass is a mistake. Every pasture without a spring or stream should have a well. Cattle in a pasture in warm weather need shade. It is usual to advise the growth of trees in the borders, or scattered over the whole field. Sheds are much better. Trees absorb the moisture, stint the growth of the grass, and injure its quality. A pasture containing many trees is not worth more than half price; it will keep about half as much stock, and keep them poorly. Bushes, which so often occupy pastures, should be grubbed up, and by all means destroyed; so should all thistles, briers, and large weeds. Hogs and geese should be kept in no pastures but their own. Never turn into pastures when the ground is very soft and wet, in the spring; the tread of the creatures will destroy much of the turf. Creatures in pasture should be salted twice a week. The age of grass, to make the best feed for animals, is often mistaken: most suppose that young and tender grass is preferable; this is far from correct. Grass that is headed out, and in which the seed has begun to mature, is far more nutritious, as every farmer can ascertain by easy experiments. Tall grass, approaching maturity, will fatten cattle much faster than the most tender young growth. Pasturing land enriches it. It is well to mow pastures and pasture meadows occasionally, though few meadows and pastures should lie long without plowing. Top-dressings of manure, on all grass-lands, are valuable; better applied in the fall than in the spring; evaporation is less, and it has opportunity to soak into the soil.
PEAS
These are sown in the field and garden. As a field-crop, peas and oats are sown together, and make good ground or soaked feed for horses, or for fattening animals. Early peas and large marrowfats are frequently sown broadcast on rich, clean land, near large cities, to produce green peas for market. It does not pay as well as to sow in rows three feet apart, and cultivate with a horse. All peas, for picking while green, are more convenient when bushed. They may produce nearly as well when allowed to grow in the natural way, but can not be picked as easily, and the second crop is less, and inferior, from the injury to the vines by the first picking. Early Kent peas (the best early variety) mature so nearly at the same time that the vines may be pulled up at once. All other peas had better be bushed, that they may be easily picked, and that the later ones may mature. Bushes need not be set so close as usual. A good bush, put firmly in the ground, to enable it to resist the wind, once in two and a half feet, is quite sufficient. Those clinging to the bushes will hold up the others. To bush peas in this way is but little work, and pays well. It is often said that stable-manure does no good on pea-ground–that peas are neither better nor more abundant for its use. We think this utterly a mistake. We have often raised twice the quantity on a row well manured, that grew on another row by its side, where no manure had been applied. If peas be sowed thick on thoroughly-manured land, the crop will be small: it is from this fact that the idea has gained currency. They are generally planted too thick on rich land. Peas planted six inches deep will produce nearly twice as much as those covered but an inch. Plowing in peas and leveling the surface is one of the best methods of planting. To get an early crop in a cold climate, they may be forced in hotbeds, or planted in a warm exposure, very early, and protected by covering, when the weather is cold. At the South, it is best to plant so as to secure a considerable growth in the fall, and protect by covering with straw during cold weather.
The only known remedy for the bugs that are so common in peas, is late sowing. In latitude forty-two, peas sown as late as the 10th of June will have no bugs. Bugs in seed-peas may be killed by putting the peas into hot water for a quarter of a minute; plant immediately, and they will come up sooner and do well. Seed imported from the more northern parts of Canada have no bugs; it is probably owing to the lateness of the season of their growth. But late peas are often much injured by mildew; this is supposed to be caused by too little moisture in the ground, and too much and too cool in the atmosphere, in dew or rain. Liberal watering then would prevent it.
Varieties—are numerous. Two are quite sufficient. Early Kent the earliest we have ever been able to obtain, ripen nearly all at once; moderate bearers, but of the very best quality. This variety of pea is the only garden vegetable with which we are acquainted that produces more and better fruit for being sowed quite thick. The other variety that we recommend is the large Marrowfat. These should not stand nearer together, on rich land, than three or four inches, and always be bushed. There are many other varieties of both late and early peas, but we regard them inferior to these. White's "Gardening for the South" mentions Landreth's Extra Early, Prince Albert, Cedo-Nulli, Fairbank's Champion, Knight's tall Marrow, and New Mammoth. Whoever wishes a greater variety can get any of these under new names. The large blue Imperial is a rich pea, like many of the dwarfs, both of the large and small, but is very unproductive. We advise all to select the best they can find, and plant but two kinds, late and early.
Plant at intervals to get a succession of crops. But very late peas, in our dry climate, amount to but little, without almost daily watering.