REQUIREMENTS OF THE ONION 241 



fluctuations. A more trustworthy demand would develop a produc- 

 ing capacity which has thus far hardly been entered upon, although 

 during recent years distant shipment of onions has notably increased. 

 The product cannot be accurately measured because onions are 

 grouped with "other vegetables" in the census reports, but it has 

 been estimated that the annual product is more than two and a 

 quarter millions of sacks, averaging in value about one dollar per 

 sack. 



Though local conditions are favorable and almost incredible 

 returns are sometimes secured, onion growing is exacting in its 

 requirements in California, as everywhere, and the crop is one which 

 no one should undertake without adequate resources of energy, 

 patience, promptness and elasticity either in his back or in his 

 pocketbook. No matter how well suited his soil, or how good his 

 stand of young plants upon it, a few days' neglect may put them 

 out of sight in a forest of weeds, from which they cannot be profit- 

 ably rescued. Still, to the diligent grower who can command suit- 

 able soil and the labor needed at a certain time, and is prompt and 

 persistent in the use of it, there is always the promise of as fair a 

 crop as man needs to see, for the climate not only favors growth, 

 maturing and harvesting, but it gives the plant freedom from many 

 pests and diseases, which are grievous in other countries. 



Situations and Soils. The onion is profited by a long growing 

 season. It grows most luxuriantly and its bulb expands most freely 

 in a moderate temperature and with a good moisture supply. It 

 endures heat well, if moisture is ample; it is easily forced into 

 maturity by drought, and though it is fortunate, in some respects, 

 that the bulb has the power to renew its growth and reach full size 

 with the renewal of moisture, this is little consolation to the grower 

 who aimed at a crop of marketable onions, not of onion sets. It is 

 important, then, that the growth of the plant be not arrested in this 

 way, and, to assure this, moisture must be ad quate until satisfactory 

 size is attained. Land naturally moist, or in which a good supply 

 may be retained by cultivation, or for which irrigation is available 

 to counteract natural tendency to dryness, is necessary for the full 

 success of the onion as a mature crop. In the winter, if rains are 

 up to the average, very good growth of green onions can be had on 

 land which is too dry in summer to carry the bulb to full-sized matu- 

 rit} . For satisfactory summer finishing of the crop, soils which 

 are prone to dry out must be avoided, unless irrigation is available. 



