74 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 169. 



Part II 



Marketing the Crop. 

 Preparation for Market. 

 The onions of the Connecticut Valley are marketed as sets and as seed 

 onions. These are graded into picklers and primes, the latter including all 

 bulbs exceeding If inches in diameter. 



Topping and Curing. 



Very little attention is given to the curing of onions grown from sets. 

 When the season is at its height, it is not uncommon for onions that are 

 pulled in the morning to be in the cars on the way to market by evening, 

 it being necessary onlj^ to dry the roots a little. The late or seed onions, 

 however, especially if they are not put into storage, are allowed to lie on 

 the ground usually in windrows for a period varying from a few days to 

 two weeks before topping. There is danger from too much exposure to 

 sunshine; hence the bulbs are stirred frequently with wooden rakes, but 

 even then some injury to color, outer skin and quality results. 



Most of the onions are topped or clipped in the field with ordinary 

 sheep shears. Topping machines are sometimes employed, the onions 

 being hauled from the field to the storage and there run through the topper 

 either immediately or when they are removed from storage in the winter. 

 These machines remove the tops, grade the bulbs and deliver them into 

 crates or bags. Undipped onions take up a little more room, but storage 

 men usually agree that they keep as well if not better than topped onions. 



Screening and Grading. 



When the topped onions are thoroughly dry they are cleaned and graded 

 by screening them. This is done in the field, and for efficient work with a 

 medium acreage eight or nine men are required. The men are distributed 

 as follows: two shovel the onions into bushel baskets; two carry them and 

 dump them on the screener; two shake the screener; one takes off the 

 bags; one weighs them; and another sews the bags up. When the 

 onions are screened for storage, the last two men are not needed. 



The screen, which has come into use within the last ten years, has a 

 sloping bed of slats with If-inch openings, and sides 6 to 8 inches high. 

 The distance between the slats was at first 1| inches; a few years later it 

 was reduced to If inches; and about two years ago by some farmers to 

 Ij inches. This opening should not be made, smaller. Practically all 



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