52 THE NEW ONION CULTURE 



advance of competitors who adhere to the old onion 

 culture, as also in clearing the ground for a succeed- 

 ing crop, such as celery, turnips, fall spinach, etc, 

 while the season is made considerably longer for 

 the late Prizetaker, which otherwise has hardly time 

 at the extreme North to come to a full development. 



2. A decided improvement of the bulbs in respect 

 to shape and uniformity. 



3. Quicker sale and better price, in consequence 

 of the finer appearance of the bulbs. 



4. A greatly increased yield, to the extent of 

 doubling that obtained by the ordinary method. 



5. The elimination of all uncertainties from the 

 business. Even failure would mean what people now 

 call a "big crop." Nothing short of hail and flood 

 could prevent a good profit in this new onion culture, 

 if managed with ordinary intelligence and care. 



It requires particularly suitable or favorable con- 

 ditions, and a considerable amount of skill, to produce 

 a big crop of onions by the older method. Anybody of 

 good common sense, even if of little practical expe- 

 rience or unusual skill, who has a fairly good patch of 

 ground, can, if he wants to, grow a crop of Gibraltars 

 or Prizetakers of which he may be proud. 



The following is a somewhat rough estimate of 

 the expenses and receipts on the basis of my own 

 experience and surrounding conditions. Supposing 

 that only 1000 bushels are grown per acre, we then 

 have the following : 



EXPENSES OF CROP PER ACRE 



Raising the plants $20.00 



Rent of land, one acre 5.00 



Manure 45.00 



Superphosphate, 400 pounds 2.40 



Muriate of potash, 250 pounds, , . .; 5.60 



