EXPERIENCE OF PRACTICAL GROWERS. 



17 



2 days 1 ploughing and dragging, $4.00 

 10 " raking and sowing, 10.00 

 20 " weeding and thinning, first time, 20.00 

 15 " " second time, 15.00 



8 " hoeing, last time, 8.00 



20 " harvesting and housing, 20.00 



4 pounds seed, 4.00 



20 loads of manure, 20.00 



3 bushels top-dressing, .75 

 Interest on land, 10.50 



Total, $112.25 



400 bushels, at 50 cents, 200.00 



Net profit per acre, $87.75 



HARVESTING onions is not so laborious as many 

 other kinds of vegetables ; their maturity being earlier 

 in the season, those engaged in their culture are not 

 exposed to the late cold autumn winds, as they would 

 be with a crop of beets, carrots, or turnips. The most 

 expeditious mode of harvesting is to dig them with 

 the common hand-hoe, running one corner of the hoe 

 under the row, giving it a long draw, taking about 

 four rows at a time, digging over some ten or twelve 

 foet ; then, with the back of the hoe, shove them up 

 three or four feet, and hoe the ground level, and spread 

 the onions upon this hoed space. 



"When treated in this way, they should lie from 

 three to four weeks' or until perfectly dry. They 

 should then be picked from the bed, and carted to the 

 barn, or some building where they will not be exposed 

 to storms, and kept upon a floor, as they will soon 

 injure if piled in large heaps upon the ground, in con- 

 sequence of the dampness which they draw from the 

 earth. If properly dried, and secured from damp, they 

 will keep for* months in this condition, without any 

 further trouble. They are liable to grow when damp, 

 so that it is important that the cultivator see that this 

 part of the work be conducted thoroughly and carefully. 



MARKETING. Onions are principally sold by the 

 bushel, and by the string. If intended to market by 

 the bushel, the tops should be cut close and smooth, 

 and all loose skin removed, to give them a bright, 

 plump appearance. If for home market, they may be 

 put in bags, or hauled by the wagon-load, avoiding 

 rough handling as far as may be. If for a distant 

 market, barrels are the most convenient mode of pack- 

 ing. Fill them with the onions, packing tight, that 

 that there be no shaking, and head strongly. Packed 

 hi this way, and perfectly dry, they will go thousands 

 of miles by railroad or ship, and open fresh and sound. 



Those intended for strings should have two inches 

 of the top left upon the onion. The strings are made 

 by taking a few straws, (rye straw is best,) and with a 

 piece of wrapping twine, commence at the butt end of 

 the straw to wind, and at every two or three turns add 

 an onion, ending at the top. This secures it firmly, 

 and brings its broad, flat base upon the outside of the 



string. The largest should be tied upon the bottom o< 

 the string, gradually diminishing in size, until the 

 smallest are tied upon the top. This gives the string 

 a conical form, and a neat and tidjr appearance, when 

 arranged for sale. 



PRESERVATION. Keeping through the winter, with- 

 out injury from frosts, or loss from heating and grow- 

 ing, requires care and experience, and various methods 

 are adopted to avoid these results. They are buried in 

 large ricks upon the ground, and covered with a heavy 

 coat of straw and a light coat of earth. They are also 

 tied upon strings, and hung upon the beams in the 

 cellar or warm garret, or spread thinly upon shelves in 

 the cellar. Some pack in boxes or barrels, encased 

 with several thicknesses of paper, and leave them in 

 an out-building. All these have been practised with 

 varied success. The most popular mode, and the one 

 which has given the most satisfactory results, is to 

 spread straw, threshed with a flail, to the depth of 

 twelve to eighteen inches upon the barn -floor, scaffold, 

 or garret ; upon this, spread the onions from six to ten 

 inches thick, and cover with straw eighteen inches to 

 two feet, laying on old pieces of boards or rails to com- 

 press the straw. Treated in this way, if at a sufficient 

 depth from frost, they are not affected by the changes 

 of temperature, and keep in fine condition till the first 

 of May. 



Onions are propagated from seed, sets, and multi- 

 pliers, or potatoe-onions. The universal mode of pro- 

 pagation at the South and "West is from sets, which 

 are obtained by so\v.ing the seed very thickly, broad- 

 cast or in drills, and when they obtain the size of a 

 filbert, pull them, and dry upon the ground in the sun. 

 These are kept till the following spring, and set by 

 hand. They make a quick, strong growth, and produce 

 fine onions. Multipliers are a variety that produce 

 large tfnd small bulbs alternately, the large producing 

 several small ones the first year, and these small giv- 

 ing large the next year. These may be recommended 

 as a small early crop for family use, and early home 

 market, but not as a main crop, the increase of market- 

 able onions over the seed being too small. Of all the 

 various modes of propagation, sowing the seed for a 

 main crop deserves first rank ; its cheapness, compared 

 with other modes, and the facility with which it is 

 sowed, the early season when it may be gathered in, 

 and the superior fine bulbs which it produces, recom- 

 mend it to general use. But whatever the mode of 

 propagation, the cultivator can not expect remunerative 

 crops, unless he bestows careful attention to the selec- 

 tion of seed, the eradication of weeds during the 

 period of their growth, annual application of well-com- 

 posted manure, and in large quantities, and the harvest- 

 ing, securing, and marketing at the proper time. "With 

 careful attention to these, and a naturally dry, fertile 

 soil, onions may be grown, with large profits upon the 

 capital invested. 



