SOILS AND MANURES 71 



some hoed crop which does not impoverish the soil to 

 any considerable extent, the land is put in the best 

 condition for raising onions. Carrots are said to be 

 the most desirable crop to precede onions. Corn and 

 potatoes, however, are not objectionable. Of course, 

 more plant food should be applied than these crops 

 remove, so that the soil will be constantly improved." 



All of this I heartily endorse. The subject of 

 selection and application of manures is treated as 

 follows : 



"The onion requires a liberal amount of plant 

 food in the most available form. The quantity and 

 quality of manures which would make potatoes, cab- 

 bages, tomatoes, or many other garden crops profitable 

 will not give even a fair compensation in onion culture, 

 unless favored by soils highly fertile in their natural 

 state. Beginners fail more frequently perhaps from 

 lack of appreciation of this fact than from any other 

 cause. The most expensive item in onion culture is 

 labor. A prominent grower estimates that it costs 

 $100 per acre to start the seedlings, prepare the soil, 

 transplant, cultivate, weed, and pull the crop when 

 the new onion culture is adopted. The cost of labor 

 is just as great for a crop of 500 bushels as for 1000. 

 Hence it is judicious for the onion grower to be liberal 

 in the use of fertilizers. If the supply of fertilizer is 

 limited it will pay better to manure one acre thoroughly 

 than two sparingly. 



"Barnyard manure is indispensable in the pro- 

 duction of superior bulbs unless the soil naturally 

 contains a large amount of humus. Muck soils may 

 be treated with concentrated commercial fertilizers 

 alone, but nothing can be entirely substituted for 

 barnyard manure on other soils with as satisfactory 

 results. Hen manure is very highly esteemed by onion 

 growers because of its high percentage of fertilizing 



