262 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



ing to be hoed from six to ten times, depending on weeds 

 and weather. After the crop has grown so that wheel hoeing 

 is out of the question the weeds can be taken care of with a 

 common hoe with a handle cut to a length of 6 inches. 



When the onions have attained their growth and begin to 

 die down they are "pulled" either by hand or with machine. 

 There is an attachment to the wheel hoe which consists of a 

 curved and sharpened blade that runs under the rows, cutting 

 the roots and throwing the onion out of the ground, and this 

 does good work if the field is free from weeds. 



The onions are allowed to lie for a few days to let the tops 

 cure, then "clipping" begins. This operation means the han- 

 dling of each onion and clipping the top off with the onion 

 shears. In the west machines do this work, but as yet they 

 have not been received with favor in the valley. After clipping, 

 the onions should not be allowed to lie on the ground too long, 

 especially during rainy weather, as this will cause the outer 

 skin to crack open, leaving the onion green, and interfering 

 with the selling and keeping quality. The better way is to 

 shovel them into old fertilizer bags with a wire scoop; from 

 these they can be readily dumped into the screen. Screens of 

 different sizes are used, varying in mesh from 1| to 1^ inches. 

 Running over these screens the onions are sorted into No. I's 

 and picklers. Incidentally this cleans and improves the looks 

 of the crop. From the screens the onions are put into bags 

 holding 100 pounds net and sewed up, and are then ready for 

 shipment. The practice of putting the crop into new and 

 uniform bags is gaining in favor, especially at the market end 

 of the business. 



Marketing. ' 



The bulk of the onion crop is sold to a buyer in the fall; 

 indeed, if the grower has not storage he must either sell the 

 crop or rent storage. The system of storage houses that has 

 grown up in the valley within a few years is the direct result 

 of necessity. The old practice of dumping the whole crop of 

 valley-grown onions on the market as soon as ready was dis- 

 astrous, as it simply meant glutting the market and unsettling 

 market prices to a marked degree. Whether to sell or to hold 

 in storage is a question for every grower to settle for himself, 



