o a
reliable remedy.

==July and August Sowing==.--During these months seed of the quick-growing
types of Onion may be sown for producing an abundant supply of salading
and small bulbs during the autumn and onwards. It is important to thin
the plants early in order that those left standing in the rows may have
every opportunity of developing rapidly.

==Autumn-sown Onions==, intended for use in the following summer, may also
be sown in the same way as advised for spring sowing. The time of sowing
is important, as the plants should be forward enough before winter to be
useful, but not so forward as to be in danger of injury from severe
frost. On well-drained ground all the sorts are hardy, and the finest
types, which are so much prized as household and market Onions, may be
sown in autumn as safely as any others. It may be well in most places to
sow a small plot: in the latter part of July, and to make a large sowing
of the best keeping sorts about the middle of August--say, for the far
north the first of the month, and for the far south the very last day.
Thin the plants in the rows and transplant the thinnings, if required,
as soon as weather permits in February. In places where spring-sown
Onions do not ripen in good time in consequence of cold wet weather,
autumn sowing may prove advantageous, as the ripening will take place
when the summer is at its best, and the crop may be taken off before the
season breaks down.

==Pickling Onions== may be obtained by sowing any of the white or
straw-coloured varieties that are grown for keeping, but the large sorts
are quite unfit; the best are the Queen and Paris Silver-skin, as they
are very white when pickled and are moderately mild in flavour. A piece
of poor dry ground should be selected and made fine on the surface. Sow
in the month of April thickly, but evenly, cover lightly, and roll or
tread to give a firm seed-bed, and make a good finish. Be careful to
keep down weeds, and do not thin the crop at all. If sown very shallow
the bulbs will be round: if sown an inch deep they will be oval or
pear-shaped.

==The Potato or Underground Onion== is not much grown in this country, in
consequence of occasional losses of the crop in severe winters. In the
South of England the rule as to growing it is to plant on the shortest
day, and take up on the longest. It requires a rich, deep soil, and to
be planted in rows twelve inches apart, the bulbs nine inches apart in
the row. So