2350 



ONION 



ONION 



to the character of the large foreign onions, especially 

 those of the Spanish type, and by it the American 

 grower is enabled to produce bulbs in every way the 

 equal of those large sweet onions which are imported 

 from Spain and other foreign countries, and sold in our 

 groceries at 5 to 10 cents a pound. Some of the onions 

 now sold to the unsuspecting buyer in various places 

 as "imported Spanish" may be really nothing more 

 than these home-grown bulbs of the Prizetaker variety, 

 and the buyer is not the loser by any means. This 

 Prizetaker is perhaps the best of this class of onions to 

 be grown by the transplanting process at the time of 

 writing large, of good shape, perhaps a little darker 

 in color than the imported Spanish, and its equal in 

 mildness of flavor. The newer Gibraltar is still larger, 

 milder, a little later, not so good a keeper, but 

 altogether one of the best onions which the home- 



2587. Forms of onions. 1, flat; 2, long globe; 3, globe onion; 

 4, oblong; 5, oblate. 



grower, as well as the market -gardener who can sell 

 his crop before late fall and at good prices, could 

 produce. 



The plants should be started under glass (preferably 

 in greenhouse) during January or February, sowing 

 seed rather thickly in drills % or 2 inches apart, and 

 using about an ounce of seed to 10 square feet of bed- 

 surface. The soil should be sandy and very rich. Keep 

 the plants in good growth, and as soon as the patch 

 outdoors can be properly prepared in spring, set the 

 seedlings in rows about 14 inches apart, and from 3 to 4 

 inches apart in the rows. Little hand-weeding will be 

 necessary, but the wheel-hoe should be used freely. 

 Green or bunching onions are also often grown in this 

 way. For that purpose the plants are set more closely 

 in the rows, not over 2 inches apart. Seed of the Prize- 

 taker is mostly grown in the United States, while that 

 of others is as yet all imported. 



T. GREINER. 



Commercial onion-culture in the North. 



The soil for onion-culture should be a rich, moist, 

 but not wet, loam with a subsoil of clay, or close com- 

 pact sandy loam, not coarse gravel, as that lets the 

 water leach out too quickly. Onions will stand a large 

 amount of fertilizing, and there is little danger of get- 

 ting the soil too rich. Soil that has been under culti- 

 vation for three or four years at least is much better 

 than new land. The tendency of the latter is to pro- 

 duce too much top-growth and improperly ripened 

 bulbs. 



To prepare the soil, plow 10 or 12 inches deep, if the 

 soil is of sufficient depth, or down to the subsoil. Care 

 should be taken not to turn up much subsoil, or the 

 crop will not mature evenly. 



If the soil is poor, plow in 5 to 10 cords of stable 

 manure to the acre, and spread on an equal amount of 

 well-rotted manure after plowing, to be harrowed in. 

 Unleached hardwood ashes is also a good fertilizer, 

 especially on rather dry land, as it aids in the conserva- 

 tion of moisture. The action is quick, which makes it 

 valuable where a little of the subsoil has been turned 

 up in plowing, giving the young plants a good start, 

 when, without it, they would be too light-colored and 

 weak in growth. Ashes should be spread as evenly as 

 possible, seventy-five to one hundred bushels to the 

 acre on the ground after plowing, and harrowed in. 



The harrowing should be thorough, using some kind 

 of a disc or spring-tooth, for the first time over, with a 

 Meeker or some other smoo thing-harrow for the finish. 

 It is impossible to get a good even stand of plants if 

 the ground is rough or lumpy, while those that do grow 

 are weak and puny on rough ground. Hand-raking is 

 sometimes necessary to insure germination of seed in a 

 satisfactory manner. 



The drainage must be nearly perfect, to get best 

 results. There should be no hollow places in the beds. 

 Even on a sloping piece of land, the dead-furrows or 

 alleys should be kept open to a depth of 8 or 10 inches, 

 and evenly graded so the surplus water will all drain off. 

 If there is a natural sag in the land which cannot be 

 surface-drained, it is often practicable to underdrain 

 so as to get satisfactory results; for there is no crop 

 grown in the ordinary market-garden which will pay a 

 larger percentage of return for underdraining, in nearly 

 all locations. If the foliage is of a light color, and the 

 crop does not ripen evenly, an underdrain will usually 

 correct the trouble. The time to drain is when the 

 ground is being prepared for planting, not after a heavy 

 rain, when water is standing in pools over the field. 



The time to plant is as early in the spring as the soil 

 becomes in good working condition. The common 

 spring frosts and snow flurries will do no harm if other 

 conditions are right. 



There are a few growers who can profitably grow 

 their own seed, but the masses should buy. This should 

 be done early, so that there may be no delay at planting 

 time, and also that one may get the best stock obtain- 

 able. If one wants ten pounds or more, it is sometimes 

 advisable to order from some one of the large seed 

 houses of the country, but if there is a reliable local 

 dealer who buys seed in bulk, one can often do better 

 than to send direct to the large seed house, even on 

 quantities of fifty to one hundred pounds. Be sure to 

 know where the seed comes from, and if possible test 

 it before planting. In any case, always buy the best 

 seed obtainable, no matter if it costs double the price 

 of other stock. 



The sowing of the seed should be done with one of the 

 standard garden seed drills, the first essentials of which 

 are that the machine can be regulated to sow evenly and 

 in the quantity desired without clogging. The machine 

 should open a row, sow, cover, roll, and mark the next 

 row, all at one operation. The machines which have a 

 sliding piece at the bottom of the hopper, which opens 



