Onions.—­The big, gentle onions seen in the shops can only be brought to maturity on very warm sandy soil.  Most of them come from Portugal.  How the natives can bear to part with them is a mystery.  The small high-powered onions, on the other hand, are easily cultivated.  The best varieties are Eau de Jazz, Cook’s Revenge, Sutton’s Saucepan Corroder and Soho Violet.  Sow in rows and beat the soil flat with the back of a spade.  Your neighbour’s spade is as good as any other for this purpose.  Goats are said to be very fond of onion tops, but many people hesitate to keep both.

PARSNIPS.—­To get big parsnips plant a single row twenty feet long.  Thin out to ten feet apart.  The crop you will get will last you until the following year.  Placed in a quiet corner of the potting-shed and covered with sand it will last for several years.  To get the best out of parsnips stew them in a bain-marie for eight hours.  Remove the undissolved portion of the parsnips and set the liquid on the stone floor of the larder to cool.  Prepare a nice thick stock, adding seasoning to taste.  Cut up three carrots.  Place the carrots in the saucepan in which the parsnips were cooked, being careful to wash it out first.  Add the stock, bring to a boil and serve.

A LADY-FRIEND sends me the following instructions for growing vegetable marrows:  In the sunniest part of the garden—­the middle of the tennis-court is as good as anywhere else—­dig a trench ten feet deep and about six wide, taking care to keep the top soil separate from the subsoil.  Into this trench tip about six hundredweight of a compost made up of equal parts of hyperphosphate of lime, ground bones, nitrate of soda and basic-slag.  The basic-slag should be obtained direct from the iron-foundry.  That kept by the chemist is not always fresh.  Add one chive, one cardamon, two cloves, half a nutmeg and salt to taste.  Replace the top-soil.  Top-soil and sub-soil can easily be distinguished in the following way.  If it is on your whiskers it is top-soil, if on your boots sub-soil.  In the middle of the bed set a good strong marrow seedling, root downwards.  As it grows remove all the marrows except the one you wish to develop.  When it stands about two hands high, thread a piece of worsted through it, allowing the end of the worsted to hang in a pail of water.  Some gardeners recommend whisky-and-water.  If the marrow is intended for exhibition a half-inch pipe connected with the water main may be substituted for the worsted as soon as the marrow is about six feet long.  Make a muslin bag out of a pair of drawing-room curtains and enclose the marrow in it.  This will protect it from mosquitoes.  As soon as the marrow ceases growing or if it becomes sluggish and exhibits loss of appetite it is ready for the table.  Marrows grown in this way make delicious orange-marmalade.

HOW TO GET RID OF SLUGS.—­Take a piece of hose-pipe about forty feet long.  Lay one end anywhere and the other on the lawn.  At the latter end place some cabbage leaves fried in bacon fat.  The slugs will be attracted by the cabbage leaves and, having eaten their fill, will enter the hose-pipe to rest.  Now hold the hose-pipe perpendicularly over a pail of water and pour into it a few drops of chloroform.  This will cause the slugs to faint and relax their hold.  They will then fall through the pipe into the water and be drowned.  ALGOL.