THE CULTURE OF SET ONIONS 15 



Shortening the time required for harvesting and curing is one of the best and 

 most practical methods of reducing losses in storage. This involves clipping 

 immediately after pulling, removal from contact with the ground at once, and 

 protection from the weather with adequate ventilation so as to complete the 

 curing process rapidly. 



SUMMARY 



Onion production in the Connecticut Valley is now largely confined to the 

 growing of set onions. Experimental studies conducted from 1939 to 1941 in- 

 clusive, on certain phases of the growing, harvesting, and storing of set onions 

 have shown that: 



1. Repeated working of the soil with heavy tractors following fertilization 

 may bring about an uneven distribution of the fertilizer and result in some crop 

 injury. 



2. Domestic rye grass plowed under in the late fall is the most successful 

 cover crop }et tried on onion land. 



3. A characteristic dying back of onion leaf tips in mid-season can usually 

 be attributed to fertilizer injur}'. It is caused by a combination of dry weather 

 and heavy rates of fertilization. 



4. In favorable growing seasons. Globe t>pe varieties have produced excel- 

 lent yields of high quality onions but their performance over a period of years 

 has not been as consistent as that of the flat type Ebenezer variety. 



5. Hand-planted sets, because of their uniform spacing and placing, will 

 outyield machine-planted sets; but in most instances economies in production 

 costs resulting from the use of machine planters will more than offset the reduc- 

 tion in yield. 



6. Maximum yields of marketable onions are usually obtained if sets ranging^ 

 from J^ to ^ inch in size are spaced 23^4 to 2 J^ inches in rows 13 to 14 inches apart. 



7. The successful control of weeds is essential. Tractor cultivation can be 

 practiced during the early part of the growing season, but as the crop develops 

 care must be exercised to avoid serious injury to the roots. Rows must be spaced 

 at least 14 inches apart. 



8. Seasonal weather conditions affect the keeping quality of onions more 

 than any other single factor. Storage losses are usually high following wet seasons 

 and low following dry ones. 



9. The quality of seed sets is an important factor in the keeping quality of 

 the mature bulbs, but the conditions which affect seed set quality have not as 

 yet been determined. 



10. Onions from locally produced seed sets have generally kept better in 

 storage than onions from sets grown outside of the Connecticut Valley. 



11. The soil appears to be the principal source of inoculum for onion bulb 

 rot diseases, and soil moisture appears to be the most important factor in promot- 

 ing their development and prevalence. 



12. Early harvested onions, although yielding less, keep better in storage 

 than late harvested onions. Onions for storage should be harvested before all 

 of the tops are down. 



13. In harvesting onions, it is important to pull, clip, cure, and get the bulbs 

 under cover as soon as possible. They may be placed in slatted crates stacked 

 in tiers in the field or they may be put into 50-pound onion bags and loosely 

 packed in a well-ventilated barn or storage. 



14. Onions in storage must be kept dry; and the colder they are kept without 

 freezing the better. 



