==Mustard==

==Sinapis alba, and S. nigra==

Mustard is much valued as a pungent salad, and for mixing in the bowl it may take the place of Water Cress when the latter is not at command.  Mustard is often sown with Cress, but it is bad practice, for the two plants do not grow at the same pace, and there is nothing gained by mixing them.  The proper sort for salading is the common White Mustard, but Brown Mustard may be used for the purpose.  Rape is employed for market work, but should be shunned in the garden.  As the crop is cut in the seed leaf, it is necessary to sow often, but the frequency must be regulated by the demand.  Supplies may be kept up through the winter by sowing in shallow boxes, which can be put into vineries, forcing pits, and other odd places.  Boxes answer admirably, as they can be placed on the pipes if needful; they favour the complete cutting of a crop without remainders, and this is of importance in the case of a salad that runs out of use quickly and is so easily produced.  From Lady Day to Michaelmas Mustard may be sown on the open border with other saladings, but as the summer advances a shady place must be found for it.

==Onion==

==Allium Cepa==

The onion has the good fortune to be generally appreciated and well grown almost everywhere.  It enhances the flavour and digestibility of many important articles of food that would fail to nourish us without its aid, while to others it adds a zest that contributes alike to enjoyment and health.  Although there are but few difficulties to be encountered in the cultivation of the Onion, there is a marked difference between a well-grown crop and one under poor management.  There is, moreover, what may be termed a fine art department in Onion culture, one result being special exhibitions, in which handsome bulbs of great weight are brought forward in competition for the amusement and edification of the sight-seeing public.  Thus, when the first principles have been mastered, there may be, for the earnest cultivator of this useful root, many more things to be learned, and that may be worth learning, alike for their interest and utility.

==Treatment of Soil.==—­The Onion can be grown on any kind of soil, but poor land must be assisted by liberal manuring.  A soil that will not produce large Onions may produce small ones, and the smallest are acceptable when no others are to be had.  But for handsome bulbs and a heavy crop a deep rich loam of a somewhat light texture is required, although an adhesive loam, or even a clay, may be improved for the purpose; while on a sandy soil excellent results may be obtained by good management, especially in a wet season.  In any case the soil must be well prepared by deep digging, breaking the lumps, and laying up in ridges to be disintegrated by the weather, and if needful its texture should be amended, as far as possible, at the same time.  A coat of clay may