1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



101 



l)oth possess it, however, in about the samt' dcg-ree. 

 As soon ;is tlie onions are up— whicli in favorable 

 ■weather will bo in abt)ut two wef ks — the liaiid- 

 -cultivalor i> starti'd. runniuR twice in oai-h row as 

 close to tlu' niiions as possible. (A careful man sdun 

 becomes e.xpert with the cultivator; lastsea-on a 1m it- 

 was not used in my beds.) The onions should he 

 ■cultivated as often as every ten days uiUil the tops 

 g-et so larg'e there is no open space hetween the 

 rows. If tiie cultivating is thoroughly done, I find 

 It necessary to weed tlieni only once, wliieli is done 

 just before the tojis get too large to work among. 

 I hire liel)) enough to plant and weed them in as 

 slu)rt a time as possible. It is essential to get them 

 planted very early, so they will ripen in time for 

 the early market. My onions (two acres) were all 

 planted in a daj' and a'half, and weeded in one day. 



Harvesting is begun by pulling the onions, throw- 

 ing 12 rows of onions into one winrow. Those large 

 enough to barrel are now topped and left on the 

 ground to di-y or cure, which, if they are well rip- 

 eried, will not t;ike more than a day or two. They 

 are then secured by rubbing together on the ground 

 until they are clean and bright. Now they are 

 re;idy to barrel, care being taken not to lUit them in 

 barrel while tliey are damp. The seed or small 

 onions aic left lying on the ground until they are 

 thoroughly cuied and the sap or juice entirely dried 

 out- of the stem. They are then picked up, with the 

 tops left on, in crates with slat bottoms, holding 

 about three pecks each, and put in o))en sheds or 

 some cool, airy place until hard freezing weather, 

 when they are put in tlie cellars, and we are ready 

 to figure our gain or loss on tlie crop. 



Tliis brings us to the question, "Does it pay ?" in 

 answer to which I have Itemized statements from 

 three growers engaged in this business, and who 

 may be considered about an average in success, 

 which I will here present, and whicli will enable you 

 to judge for yourselves whether it pays. In these 

 ■statements no account is taken of interest on land 

 or value of barn manure used, but I will say it is 

 about the same as though the land were prepared 

 for a first-class yield of potatoes; neitiier is interest 

 on capital invested in seed considered, as the seed 

 grows along with crop, and generallj' increases each 

 year more than 6 per cent, which would offset the 6- 

 per-cent interest on the investment. 



NO. 1— ONE AND A HALF ACRES. 



rlramlng- 100 bush, seed $12 60 



reparinf; ground 3 00 



lanting 10 00 



ult'vafinp: and weeding 27 ."lO 



Harvesting 26 00 



Paid tur 201 barrels at 22c « 22 



Marketing 12 .")0 



Gathering seed 3 7.5 



l-aid for ^ ton phosphate 12 50 



Total expense SWl 97 



Sold 201 barrels onions at $2.00 402 00 



Balanee after expense $2.iO 03 



Profit per acre 166 68 



NO. 2— SEVEN ACRES. 



Trimming seed $63 12 



Preparing ground 2.t 00 



Planting 62 53 



Cultivating 32 00 



Weeding 38 91 



Harvesting 127 .W 



Phosphate 2.i 00 



725 ban els at 22c l.^JO 50 



Total expense $ 63t 64 



Sold 725 barrels at $2.00 14.50 (M) 



Balance after expense 916 36 



Profit per acre 130 90 



NO. 3— TWO ACRES. 



Trimming seed $12 00 



Preparing ground 10 00 



Planti ng 19 43 



Cultivating 12 .50 



Weeding 8 89 



Harvesting 28 52 



Bought 3111 barrels 66 22 



Drawing to market 9.50 



<4atheiiner seed 6 25 



Bought 1500 lbs. phosphate 18 00 



Total expense $ 191 31 



Sold 301 baiTels onions at 12.00 602 0.) 



Balance after expense 8 410 69 



I'roHt per acre 205 Si^i 



SC^MAKT. 



Total acres in cultivation, 10}4- 



Total expenses $ 876 92 



Total sales 24.54 00 



Total balance after expense H577 08 



Profit per acre 150 19 



Tile yield and piiccs given above being no higlu'i- 

 than tlie average for t he past ten years, lliese state- 

 ments ni;iy safely lie cdnsidered a fair answer to the 

 (luestion, " Does it pay ?" 



The soil liisl a(la|il"ed to the gi'owing of onions, in 

 ni.v judgment, is a sandy loani that holds moistur-e 

 in contiiuied Iml. dry weather: if the soil gets too 

 hot and diy, the onions are lialile to burn It niusl. 

 be free from surface watei', or tloodinn- in rainy 

 weather. IIS a few hours' hot sini on niiiuiis coveied 

 with water will surely scald them and ruin the cro|). 

 I believ(> tlu> ground' should lie i)lowed in the fall, 

 and what manure is intended to he used should be 

 then turned luider, ;md, in the sining, work the 

 ground on tt)p. tliilling what ferlilizt'i' is used with a 

 grain-drill, and the soil i-olled and harrowed until it 

 is thoroughly jiulver'zed and made vi'r.\ line three 

 inches deep. It is not a good jilan to manure on top 

 with coarse maniu-e. as it hinders verj' much in 

 planting and cultivating. 



Onions may be raist d on the same ground year 

 after year, if the fertility of the soil is kejit u|) by a ' 

 liberal supply of barnyard manure and phosiihate. 

 I know a field upon which onions have been grown 

 every year for more than 35 years, and last season's 

 yield was a good average. But recently I have 

 adopted a system which I think far better. Every 

 two years 1 change m.v onion ground, plowing un- 

 der a heavy growth of clover. Every tiller of the 

 soil understands the benefits of a rotation of crops} 

 also of plowing under clover, good results of which 

 manifest themselves especially in onion culture. 

 It not only fertilizes the soil, but it will hold mois- 

 ture better, and rank clover is a great agent in free- 

 ing the land from weeds. I don't have half the 

 trouble in keeping the crop clean from weeds the 

 first season after plowing under the clover. After 

 harvesting the crop ne.xt season, I intend sowing 

 the field to wheat, or to barley in the spring follow- 

 ing, and seeding to clover. I mow the first crop of 

 clover, and plow under the second growth, which on 

 land in a high state of fertility will be heavy. 



If 1 were to give advice to any one thinking of 

 starting in the business, I should say, buy but a few 

 bushels of seed, begin in a small way, and let your 

 experience and business grow along together. I 

 have known failures by starting in on too large a 

 scale. There are several things to learn before suc- 

 cess is assured. When I see a man start out without 

 any knowledge of the business, and buy a large 

 amount of seed, I keep an eye on him. for tlie 

 chances are that in about two years he -will be dis- 

 gusted with the business, and it is a first-rate place 

 to go to buy seed cheap. I began with 2>^ bushels, 

 and kept planting all I raised until I had enough, so 

 that my first sale was 23.5 barrels. Had I started in 

 by buying 100 or 300 bushels of seed, the chances are 

 that I would have been tint of the business long ago. 

 and no one would have thought of asking me to read 

 an article on "onion-growing" here to-day. 



A person, to succeed, must have soil ad ipted to 

 the growth of the onion, and a cool, dry place to 

 winter his seed. The seed ought not to freeze, 

 but slight freezing is better than too much Jieat. 

 He must not expect to raise a pi-ofltable crop of 

 onions and a heavy crop of weeds on the same ground 

 at the same time. Weeds are the eternal inemy of 

 the onion-grower, and he should be constantly on the 

 war-path with every implement of destruction and 

 death he can invent. Weeds grow in wet and dry 

 weather. Thev woik nights and Sundays and 

 Fourth of July; they are especially active and put 

 in their " best licks " while we are gone a-flshing or 

 to the circus or horse-race, and what advantage they 

 gain from you in one day it will take three to get 

 back. Every weed should be plowed under imme- 

 diately after the crop is harvested, and the ground 

 cultivated as often as thej make their appeaiance. 



If vou are growing onions to any considerable 

 extent, do not be afiaid to hire help to plant and 

 weed them as (|uickly as jiossilile. It will he cheaper 

 and more satisfactory in the end. I of ten .seeasmany 

 as twenty men and boys in the field at a time during 

 lilanting' and weeding. When onions are ready to 

 weed, be ready to do it with all the good help you 

 can get. Weeds giow very fast at this time of year, 

 and you will have lots of other work to do; but the 

 onions ma.sf be weeded; and if you try to do it with 

 your ordinary force of liel]) you will probably be 

 running a mowing-machine of some kind over the 

 field before vou can find what you did with ■$4(K) or 

 $.500 worth of seed in planting time. Hoys can plant 

 and weed onions; but in my opinion good reliable 

 men. paid good wages, are the cheapest and most 

 satisfactory help a farmer can get. 



