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expansion of the root. A heavy, sticky adobe or a coarse, gravelly soil should 

 be avoided. The onion can stand without injury a much lower temperature 

 than many other vegetables, and if given sufficient moisture it will endure the 

 heat well. Before planting, the soil should be put into the finest condition 

 of tilth possible and the culture throughout the entire season should be such 

 that there will be no weed growth and a good mulch preserved. If hand 

 implements are used the rows may be planted about twelve inches apart, while 

 if the cultivation is to be done by horse-drawn implements the rows should be 

 two to three feet apart. Cover the seed about one-half an inch when planting 

 on heavy soil and about one inch when planting on light soil or late in the 

 season. In many sections of California onions can be successfully sown during 

 any month of the year, but the bulk of the seeding is done during the months 

 of February to May, inclusive. Onions are propagated in California from seed 

 planted directly in the field, by transplanting the seedlings, and from sets. 

 The first two methods are the most common. The Red Wethersfield, Australian 

 Brown, and Danvers Globe are the most popular varieties, although there are 

 many others grown in this state. 



When grown for pickles and green onions harvest whenever they attain the 

 desired size. For dry onions harvesting should not be commenced until the tops 

 of the majority of the onions have begun to turn yellow and dry. If deferred 

 too long the onions will grow new roots, which ruins them for marketing 

 except when consumed immediately. The crop is thrown in windrows and 

 allowed to cure for several days and in some localities longer. When the tops 

 have become thoroughly dried they are cut or twisted off about one-half an 

 inch from the bulb. The latter are placed in piles, thoroughly dried and sacked. 

 When growing onions for seed, the first season's work consists of growing the 

 bulbs or mother onions, which are produced and harvested in the same manner 

 as growing mature onions. In the following spring these bulbs are trans- 

 planted to the field and are allowed to go to seed. In the fall, when the seed 

 has completely ripened it is harvested, cleaned, and stored in sacks ready for 

 shipment. 



Soil suitable for onion growing ordinarily varies from $200 to $500 per acre, 

 including a suitable water supply. Most of the manual labor is done by 

 Japanese, who are paid from $1.50 to $2 per day. 



OLIVE CULTURE 

 By W. F. OGLESBY, Assistant in Viticulture 



Eegions. Olives may be grown in most of the foothill sections of the interior 

 valleys as far north as Redding and in the warmer sections out on the floor of 

 these valleys. They may, also, be grown in favored spots in all the coast valleys 

 south of Mendocino County, although the cooler atmosphere retards somewhat 

 the development and ripening of the fruit, and black scale is often troublesome 

 and hard to control. It would be well for those who contemplate the planting 

 of olive orchards to visit such places as Oroville, Fresno, San Bernardino, Los 

 Angeles, and San Diego, as the factors in these places and the districts around 

 them will give some idea of conditions required. If the visit be made in late 

 summer the disadvantages of shallow, leachy, heavy, or poorly drained soils, 



