6 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 424 



Planting. — Machine Versus Hand Setting. The methods used in planting 

 sets have been found to materially affect the yield of onions. Hand planting, 

 although slow and laborious, nevertheless results in the largest yields. Machine 

 planting, in which a set planter distributes the sets along one or two rows, is 

 much faster and also easier, but yields are invariably lower. 



In a trial conducted in 1941, a relatively dry season, machine-planted sets 

 yielded at a rate of 500 fifty-pound bags of onions to the acre as compared with 

 760 bags from hand-planted sets. The lower yields from machine-planted sets 

 are largely due to the failure of set planters to space the sets evenly in the row 

 and to place them uniformly in an upright position. The importance of placing 

 sets in an upright or nearly upright position is shown by the results of another 

 experiment carried on in the same year. Sets which were all planted horizontally 

 yielded 75 percent as much as sets which were all set upright, while sets which 

 were completely inverted yielded only 20 percent as much. 



The subsequent sprouting and establishment of sets dropped at random by a 

 machine varies, of course, with the weather conditions immediately after planting. 

 If the weather is dry, reductions in yield may be considerable; but if sufficient 

 moisture is present, a good crop may result even if some sets are not placed in 

 proper position. 



Most growers who use the machine planters follow the machine with a crew 

 who properly space the sets, removing excess sets wher,e bunched and filling in 

 spaces missed. The use of carefully graded sets when machines are used, a 

 practice adopted bj' the large growers, improves the planting accuracy of the 

 machines. 



The power planter, particularly in times of labor shortage, is a great help to 

 the grower with a large onion acreage. One man with a modern two-row planter 

 can cover five or more acres in a day compared with onK- one acre planted by 

 about 10 hand workers. The greater speed of the machine planters also enables 

 the grower to get his sets planted quickh' whenever the changeable April and 

 early May weather permits. Most significant is the lower cost of machine plant- 

 ing, an important factor for large growers who have to hire all their labor. The 

 savings in production costs more than offset the loss from reduced yields. 



Table 2. — Effect of Set Sizes on Yield Per Acre (1941). 



Sets spaced 13.8" between rows, 2.25" in the row. 



Size of Sets Vield — 



50 lb. Bags per .\cre 



Small (Oats) }i" to 3/8" --i-- 560 



Regular H" to 3/4" -. -- 750 



Oversize %" to 7/8"..._ --- 890 



Rale of Planting. — The number of bushels of sets required to plant an acre is 

 determined by the size of -the sets used, the distance between the rows, and the 

 spacing of the sets in the rows. Long experience has shown that sets ranging 

 from }4. inch to % inch in diameter are ideal for planting. If sets less than 3/8 

 inch ("oats") are used, the yield is usually reduced; if sets larger than ^ inch are 

 grown, the percentage of "bolters" or bulbs producing seed stalks is invariably 

 high. Here again, weather conditions may materially influence the performance 

 of both undersize and oversize sets. In years when- the supply is short, sets from 



