MBER BEETLE AND LARVA
All magnified]

In some sections of the country the little striped cucumber-beetle
attacks the melons and cucumbers as soon as they come up. These beetles
are very active, and if their attacks are not prevented they will
destroy the tender plants. Bone dust and tobacco dust applied just as
the plants appear above the ground will prevent these attacks. This
treatment not only keeps off the beetle, but also helps the growth of
the plants.

=Eggplants.= Eggplants are so tender that they cannot be transplanted
like tomatoes to cold-frames and gradually hardened to stand the cold
spring air. These plants, started in a warm place, must be kept there
until the soil to which they are to be transplanted is well warmed by
the advance of spring. After the warm weather has fully set in,
transplant them to rich soil, setting them three feet apart each way.
This plant needs much manure. If large, perfect fruit is expected, the
ground can hardly be made too rich.

Eggplants are subject to the same bacterial blight that is so
destructive to tomatoes. The only way to prevent this disease is to
plant in ground not lately used for tomatoes or potatoes.

[Illustration: FIG. 93. AN ONION HARVEST]

=Onions.= The method of growing onions varies with the use to which it
is intended to put them. To make the early sorts, which are eaten green
in the spring, little onions called _sets_ are planted. These are grown
from seeds sowed late in the spring. The seeds are sowed thickly in rows
in rather poor land. The object of selecting poor land is that the
growth of the sets may be slow. When the sets have reached the size of
small marbles, they are ready for the fall planting.

In the South the sets may be planted in September. Plant them in rows in
rich and well-fertilized soil. They will be ready for market in March
or April. In the more northerly states the sets are to be planted as
early as possible in the spring.

To grow ripe onions the seeds must be sowed as early in the spring as
the ground can be worked. The plants are thinned to a stand of three
inches in the rows. As they grow, the soil is drawn away from them so
that the onions sit on top of the soil with only their roots in the
earth.

[Illustration: FIG. 94. HOTBED FOR STARTING TOMATO PLANTS]

As soon as the tops ripen pull the onions and let them lie in the sun
until the tops are dry. Then put them under shelter. As onions keep best
with their tops att