BERMUDA ONIONS— ONION DISEASES 



1471 



Type of Onions Employed 



The varieties l^nown as multipliers and 

 top onions are generally employed for 

 this purpose; liowever, bunching onions 

 are sometimes grown from ordinary sets, 

 from inferior and damaged large onions, 

 and from seed. The multipliers and top 

 onions are the only kinds adapted for 

 this work on a large scale. 



BERarUDA ONIONS 

 Production 



The production of Bermuda onions in 

 the United States is a comparatively new 

 industry and has thus far been under- 

 taken mainly in Texas and California. 



Soils and Climate 



Soils of a silty or alluvial nature are 

 suited to the production of Bermuda 

 onions, and those containing consider- 

 able sand are most desirable. As already 

 noted in referring to fertilizers for 

 onions, the Bermuda requires a very rich 

 soil for the best results, and this can 

 only be obtained by first selecting a good 

 soil and then manuring heavily. The 

 Bermuda onion as grown in this country 

 is a winter crop; therefore, mild climatic 

 conditions are required. 



Cnltnral Metliods 



The cultural methods employed in the 

 growing of Bermuda onions are essen- 

 tially 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 trans- 

 planting process and a great amount of 

 hand labor is required. 



Bermuda onions are harvested as early 

 as possible, generally before the tops 

 have become fully ripened. 



Irriiration 



Outside of the areas where irrigation 

 methods are depended upon for the pro- 

 duction of general crops it is not cus- 

 tomary to use artificial watering in the 

 growing of onions. In a few cases the 

 land has been equipped with an overhead 

 sprinkling system which is employed to 

 moisten the soil after the seed is planted 

 and also during extremely dry weather. 



On peat and muck soils the young seed- 

 lings are frequently lost by the dry muck 

 blowing with the high winds of early 

 springtime. In this way a part of the 

 field may have the soil blown off to such 

 an extent that the plants will be left 

 without soil about them, while other por- 

 tions of the field will be covered by one 

 or two inches of loose muck. The use 

 of a small quantity of water sprayed 

 over the field will prevent this shifting 

 of the soil during a windstorm, and thus 

 save the crop from destruction. Sandy 

 soils are also subject to the action of 

 winds to a greater or less extent, and 

 losses may be prevented by the timely 

 application of water over the surface. In 

 a few instances subirrigatlon is employed 

 in the growing of onions. 



Throughout the Bermuda district of 

 the Southwestern states surface irriga- 

 tion is almost universally employed. The 

 Bermuda onions are planted mostly in 

 comparatively level beds with dividing 

 ridges and are flooded once each week 

 or ten days during the growing period. 

 About a week before the plants are set 

 the soil is flooded and then worked over 

 with disk and smoothing harrows just 

 ahead of the planters. Within a day or 

 two after planting the land is again 

 flooded and the surface water drawn off; 

 this process is repeated, with alternate 

 cultivations, as often as the land be- 

 comes dry. Toward the end of the grow- 

 ing season the water is withheld to 

 allow the bulbs to ripen. As a rule about 

 ten waterings in all are required, at a 

 cost of about $1..50 an acre for each 

 watering, or $15 altogether. 



In the principal Bermuda onion-grow- 

 ing districts the water for irrigation pur- 

 poses is obtained only after the expendi- 

 ture of thousands of dollars for pipe lines 

 and pumping machinery, and the cost of 

 watering as given above does not include 

 any share of the original cost for instal- 

 lation. "W^. R. Be.\ttte. 



U. S. nept. .\Kr. Farmprs Bill. 3."i4. 



ONION DISEASES 



Antliraf-nose or Black Spot 



This is chiefly a disease of stored on- 

 ions and is more conspicuous with the 



