314 FIELD r AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



cold weather, and the crop will not mature in time for the early 

 market if grown to the northward. The cultural methods employed 

 in the growing of Bermuda onions are essentially the same as those 

 for ordinary onions. As the greater portion of the crop is grown in 

 a region which has no regular rainfall, irrigation methods are 

 employed almost universally. The greater part of the crop is grown 

 by the transplanting process and a great amount of hand labor is 

 required. Bermuda onions are harvested as early as possible, gener- 

 ally before the tops have become fully ripened. Phenomenal yields 

 of 34,000 and 35,000 pounds of Bermuda onions are frequently 

 made on an acre of land, but this is far above the general average, 

 which is in the neighborhood of 10,000 or 12,000 pounds to the acre. 

 Many fields, especially when planted for the first time, do not yield 

 as much as 10,000 pounds to the acre. On land that has been 

 heavily manured and planted to onions for several years the yield 

 averages about 16,000 pounds. The best Bermuda-onion farms are 

 valued at $300 to $500 an acre. In order to prove profitable, the 

 growing of Bermuda onions should be conducted on a comparatively 

 large scale. The necessary land and irrigation facilities will require 

 the initial outlay of from $10,000 to $30,000, and the running 

 expenses are quite heavy. Labor can be secured at a low price, but 

 is correspondingly inefficient and often not to be had in sufficient 

 quantities. Furthermore, the markets are now pretty well supplied 

 with Bermuda onions, and persons who desire to engage in their 

 production are advised to investigate every phase of the industry 

 before embarking too heavily in it. The expansion of the Bermuda- 

 onion industry is limited by the facts that a large supply of bulbs 

 can be grown on a comparatively small area, that the distance to 

 market is great, that the product is perishable, and that the markets 

 will consume only a limited quantity at the prices at which the crop 

 can be sold with profit. 



Green Onions for Bunching. Another phase of onion culture 

 that is of considerable importance in certain localities is the produc- 

 tion of young bunching onions for the early spring trade. In 

 several sections along the South Atlantic coast the growing of this 

 class of onions is quite an enterprise. Many persons who are 

 engaged in other lines of work follow the practice of growing a small 

 area of bunching onions as a side issue. The varieties known as 

 multipliers and top onions are generally employed for this purpose ; 

 however, bunching onions are sometimes grown from ordinary sets, 

 from inferior and damaged large onions, and from seed. The mul- 

 tipliers and top onions are the only kinds adapted for this work 

 on a large scale. For growing bunching onions the bulbs or sets are 

 planted during the autumn either in beds or in rows 12 or 14 inches 

 apart with the bulbs quite close in the rows. The bulbs will start 

 growing within a short time and make more or less growth during 

 the winter. As soon as the weather becomes warm during the first 

 months of spring the onions make a rapid growth and are ready for 

 marketing about the time peach trees begin to bloom. In marketing 

 this class of onions the young shoots are pulled, the roots trimmed, 



