156 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Onion Growing For Profit 



JOSEPH W. RUSH, HUMBER BAY, ONT. 



What is an average profit per acre growing 

 onions, all expenses being deducted ? Is it 

 difficult to dispo&e o(f the crop and how much 

 per bushel do onions generally bring ? Have 

 you tried the transplanting method introduced 

 by T. Grenier in his book, The New Onion Cul- 

 ture ? Is it advisable to keep onions until 

 spring ? What kind of soil is best and what 

 onions are the most profitable ? How many 

 bushels can be grown from an acre ? — (A. R. 

 Etouglas, Ailsa Craig, Ont. 



There is certainly money in onion grow- 

 ing if properly managed. Try it and man- 

 age as well as yoti can. The returns from 

 an acre of onions may range from $20 less 

 than nothing up to $300 to the good. There 

 is always a sale for onions at market prices 

 which range from 50 cents to $1 per bushel 

 for well dried onions. A good plan for 

 early onions is to sell them in bunches, six 

 onions tied in a bunch. The onions should 

 be three to five inches in diameter. They 

 sell at 50 cents per dozen bunches in Toron- 

 to market. 



Sell the onions when they are ready and 

 you need the money. My soil includes 

 sand, heavy clay, black muck, clay loam, 

 gravelly clay and some very strong land. 

 The Yellow Danver onion I find the most 

 profitable and I always use a well known 

 Toronto firm's seeds. Sow five to six 

 pounds per acre. Four hundred bushels is 

 a fair crop, 600 bushels is a good one. There 

 is lots of work in onion growing, and you 

 ehould find a profit as well as work. 



THE BEST SOIL. 



The soil best suited for onions is a dark, 

 sandy loam that retains moisture. Work 

 deep when preparing the ground for the re- 

 ception of the seed. Use land that has been 

 worked for a root crop the previous year. 

 Use 30 to 40 tons of well rotted barn manure 

 per acre and plow it under four to six 

 inches. The manure should be covered by 

 not less than four inches of soil. 



Harrow thoroughly so that the manure is 

 thoroughly incorporated with the soil. After 



harrowing with the ordinary harrow the 

 surface should be further worked with the 

 arm or disk harrow, so that it is well pulver- 

 ized to the depth of four inches. Then put 

 on the smoothing board and go over the 

 Iground two or three times until you are sure 

 the soil is ready for the seed. When ready 

 anake a straight mark across the land to be 

 sown, have your seed in the drilling machine 

 and set the marker to suit. If the crop is 

 to be worked by hand 15 inches will be about 

 right, and if by horse 18 to 20 inches. 



Run the drill at a good fast walk, as the 

 seed runs truer than when run at a low 

 speed. Have the heaviest man on the farm 

 follow the drill, treading every inch of the 

 rows thoroughly to insure a good catch. 

 There is no other crop where the adage, 

 " A Stitch in Time," is so applicable as in 

 the onion crop; therefore, just as soon as 

 the line can be seen, which will be about 10 

 days after sowing, apply the double wheel 

 hoe between the rows and keep it going once 

 a week all season. Do not thin the onions, 

 as they will ripen better if allowed to crowd 

 each other. 



experiment in Pruning Tomatoes 



W. T. MACOUN, HORTICULTURIST, C. E. F., 

 OTTAWA. 



AN experiment in pruning tomatoes was 

 tried last season with gratifying suc- 

 sults. When the plants in the hot-beds had 

 six strong leaves developed, which was on 

 May 2.T^, the tops were nipped off and the 

 plants given more room, being placed five 

 and a half inches apart in the frame. The 

 object of pinching ofif the top of the plant 

 was to cause new shoots to develop at the 

 axils of the leaves in order to have six 

 branches bearing early tomatoes instead of 

 the one cluster usually found on the top of 

 the plant. These were planted out June 6,^ 

 alongside other plants unpruned. On June 

 22 half the pruned plants were again 



