82 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 169. 



Sales from Field to Local Storage. 



A great many of the onions purchased in the field by local dealers are 

 put into storage. Such sales are usually consummated early, often before 

 the onions are out of the ground. Onions for storage are selected on the 

 basis of size, general appearance and keeping quality, and it is not un- 

 common for the storage men to stipulate the conditions of harvesting, 

 curing and delivery of such onions. If, on delivery, the onions are not 

 all up to the standard required, the poorer are screened out and marketed 

 immediately and the rest stored. Onions that will store well always 

 sell readily, frequently at a special price. 



The quantity stored naturally varies from year to year, according to 

 the crop and the conditions of the market. The local dealers who store 

 are almost without exception also growers; hence, they may store a large 

 portion of their own onions, and consequently buy fewer from other 

 growers for this purpose. They may sell their own directly and store 

 those purchased from others. In 1914-15, of the 673,900 bushels held 

 in local and terminal storages, approximately 300,000 bushels were pur- 

 chased from the growers for storing; of the remainder, 111,200 bushels 

 were raised by the storage men themselves; the remaining 276,400 bushels 

 were taken care of by hiring storage space either in the valley or at Boston. 



Sales after Storage. 



1. By the Farmer. — The onions stored b}^ the farmer for later sale may 

 be held (a) in temporary storages (tobacco shed, barns or cellars); (6) in 

 his own private warehouse; (c) in a commercial storage where he rents 

 space at a fixed price per bag or crate. 



If held in temporary storages, onions are sold usually before Thanks- 

 giving Day; if held in a private warehouse or commercial storage they 

 are sometimes shipped by the grower himself at periods when market 

 conditions appear most favorable. Many of the farmers' holdings in com- 

 mercial storages are sold directly to or through the owner of the storage 

 or some other local dealer. 



The quantity of onions thus held varies greatly from year to year. 

 If the season is a short one buyers are anxious and prices are high. Such 

 conditions usually induce the farmer to sell and thus escape storage charges 

 and probable loss by shrinkage. On the other hand, when the acreage is 

 large and the yield heavy, prices are usually unsatisfactory and buyers 

 hold off. At such times, farmers store for later sale and better prices. 



2. By Dealers. — Storage men do not as a rule begin to ship before the 

 first of December. In 1915-16 the number of bushels shipped from the 

 first of December to the end of the season was approximately 670,000; 

 in 1914-15, 585,000 bushels; and in 1913-14, 582,000 bushels. Practically 

 90 per cent, of these were shipped by local storage men and dealers. These 

 shipments go to commission men, jobbers, wholesale distributors and 

 retailers in practically all of the principal markets of the Atlantic States 



