232 CROP GROWING AND CROP FEEDING 



ant crop, and we find on the market sets of all kinds, white, 

 yellow and red. But the Southern grower is fast finding that he does 

 not need sets, except for the production of the spring bunching crop, and for 

 this purpose he wants a white set. After a number of experiments we have 

 found that the Queen gives us the best results for this purpose. 



Since onion sets should be of small size, the thicker the seeds are sown 

 the better. It is our practice here to sow seeds for sets the first of April, in 

 rows, and so thickly that it will take about 60 pounds to sow an acre. Sown 

 in this way they crowd each other and the product is a mass of bulbs about the 

 size of small marbles, ripe here in early July. These are gathered and cured 

 with the tops left on, for we find that they soon start to sprout when the tops 

 are removed. Hence the tops are not taken off till we are ready to use or sell 

 the sets. These sets are planted in September, as it is important that they 

 get well started and a young bulb under way before cold wearing. 



EARLY GREEN ONIONS IN THE SOUTH. 



We have long since found that while we can grow as fine onions from the 

 black seed in the South the first season as can be grown elsewhere, and that 

 for the purpose of growing a ripened crop the sets are practically worthless, 

 we are compelled by the character of our autumn weather to use the sets for 

 the early crop, which goes North late in winter and early in spring. The 

 onion is one of the few crops which are better fertilized in the hill than broad- 

 cast, since the roots have a more limited range and are better nourished by 

 having the fertilizer placed right below them. Therefore for this early crop 

 we mark out furrows, early in September, two feet apart. In these furrows 

 we scatter the fertilizer and then bed on the first furrow with two others, one 

 from each side, making a ridge over the fertilizer. This we flatten with a 

 hand roller, and mark out a small furrow on the bed in which the sets are 

 placed so that when the soil is pulled away in late winter the bulbs will be 

 on the surface. We set them rather deep in the bed as a protection till hard 

 frosts are over. As the crop is pulled and bunched when half grown, the sets 

 can be placed two inches apart in the rows. We have said that for this early 

 crop we use sets of the Queen onion. We have succeeded very well with the 

 Bermuda onion in the same way, and the white potato onion, or Multiplier, 

 is being largely used for fall planting, as it stands the winter better than 

 most other sorts and makes a short top. The fertilizer requirements of 

 onions are mainly for nitrogen and potash. Analysis shows a very small 

 percentage of phosphoric acid in the onion when compared with the other 

 constituents. 



