30 



HOW TO RAISE ONIONS. 



ONION GROWING IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 



It is a common impression that onions can not be 

 successfully raised from seeds, or " black seeds," as 

 growers term it, much south of latitude 40. In 

 localities south of this, it is asserted that a crop can 

 only be grown with certainty by the use of sets. 

 That a Southern climate is not unfavorable to the 

 onion, is shown by the fine specimens sent from Spain 

 and Portugal to the English markets, and of late 



the crop on the market at the earliest possible date. 

 The conditions of success with the Southern onion 

 crop are the same as at the North. The soil must be 

 light and loamy, as free as possible from weeds, and 

 be highly manured. As at the North, the same land 

 is continued in onions for an indefinite number of 

 years, making a change occasionally in the kind of 

 manure applied. The cow pea, with its abundance 



years to our own large cities. The onions grown in of succulent foliage, allows the Southern grower to 

 Bermuda are so fine as to be regarded in our cities as supply the soil with a large amount of vegetable 

 a distinct variety, while New Mexico and Mexico matter. As soon as the onions are off, the soil is 

 excel all the localities mentioned in the great size, sown to cow peas. The pea vines, usually killed by 

 combined with tenderness and mild flavor of their I frost, are allowed to lie until the first part of Decem- 



onions. The assertion that onions can not be grown 

 from seeds in the Southern States, is met by the fact 

 that large quantities are annually sent from Georgia 

 and other States to the Northern markets. Though a 

 share of these are grown from sets, the larger por- 

 tion are from the seed. Dr. A. Oemler, near Savan- 

 nah, Ga., reports having raised the "Giant Rocca" 



ber, when they are turned under, burying them 

 deeply. Not only do the pea vines enrich the soil, 

 but they form such a dense mat that weeds can get 

 no foothold. The time for sowing onion seed near 

 Savannah is about the first of January, which gives 

 the pea vines an opportunity to decay before the seeds 

 are put in. By sowing at this time, the young onions 



onion at the rate of ten hundred and fifty bushels to j escape the heavy rains, and the severe cold which 



the acre, a yield from the seed that would be re- 

 markably large in any locality. 



Probably the failures with onions from seed have 

 been due more to late sowing than to any other 

 cause. Early sowing is very necessary at the North, 

 and is still more so at the South. The roots of the 

 onion do not descend into the soil very far, and the 

 crop is one of those most disastrously affected by 

 drouth. In the vicinity of Norfolk, Va., and in 

 Maryland, the "Potato Onion" is grown almost ex- 

 clusively, and this variety can only be grown by 

 planting the sets, or small bulbs. In Georgia, the 

 " Red Wethersfield " and the " Yellow Danvers " are 

 preferred. Some of the recent varieties from the 

 south of Europe are productive, but are either too 

 small or too large to suit our markets. Those who 

 raise onions for the Northern markets, find that their 

 product brings the best prices when it comes in just 

 as the supply from Bermuda ceaees, and before that 

 of Northern growth is ready. Hence the time of 

 sowing is regulated with a view to this, and it is not 

 desirable in this case, as with other vegetables, to place 



sometimes occurs, to which those sown two months 

 or more earlier are exposed, while the time of 

 growth, owing to more favorable weather, is made 

 much shorter. 



The cultivation of the growing crop presents no' 

 features peculiar to the Southern States. There, as 

 elsewhere, success depends upon thorough and 

 prompt weeding. The smaller the weeds, when 

 hand weeding in the rows is done, the less the chance 

 of injury to the onions by disturbing their roots in 

 pulling up a large weed, the root of which has taken 

 possession of the soil. 



The onions indicate that they have ceased to grow 

 and are mature, by the falling over of the tops. Usu- 

 ally the whole crop is not marketed at once, but suc- 

 cessive shipments are made. For this reason, the 

 field is gone over several times, at each time pulling 

 those bulbs, the tops of which have fallen. They 

 may be packed at once, or be left on the ground for 

 a few days, in order to dry off The tops are cut off 

 with a sharp knife, leaving an inch or so of neck, 

 and packed in crates holding a bushel each. 



ONION SETS. 



An onion set is an onion raised from seed and | 

 which has ripened while very small. This result is pro- 

 duced by sowing the seed thickly. The young bulbs 

 start as usual, but as a dozen or more are struggling 

 for the nutriment usually given to a single bulb, they 

 fail to increase in size, and come to maturity while 

 yet very small. When these sets are planted out, 

 they are under more favorable conditions, and at once 

 increase in size, and complete the growth which was 

 arrested in the first season. 



Onion sets should be as small as possible, as a 

 greater number are contained in a given measure; 



not only this, but the smaller they are, the less risk is 

 there that they will run up to seed. They vary from 

 half an inch in diameter down to the size of a pea. i 

 There are several methods of growing sets, but all 

 have the same end in view, the crowded condition of 

 the bulbs. One plan is to stretch a line, and drill in 

 six rows of seed at an inch and a half or two inches 

 apart. The drill is set to drop five or six seeds to 

 each inch of row. This will give thirty to thirty-six 

 seeds to each lineal inch of the bed of six rows. At 

 a sufficient distance from this to allow of the use of 

 the cultivator, usually thirty inches, another bed of six 



