ONION SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION. 71 



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They may not look so well when put in, but they keep better, and the 

 desirable color comes with curing. M 



The amount of work connected with harvesting a crop often makes it 

 necessary to leave onions on the ground for several days. This will not 

 hurt them necessarily, if they are not clipped, but clipped onions that 

 remain on the ground overnight are likely to absorb moisture and become 

 spongy. 



A few of the growers have been cribbing their onions with very good 

 results. This is done by putting the onions directly from the field, often 

 without topping, into 2J-bushel crates. These crates are then placed two 

 crates wide and four crates high in a crib similar to the ordinary corn crib, 

 but open at the sides. They are left there until the latter part of No- 

 vember, and then removed into the ordinary storage. The open sides of 

 the crib allow the wind to blow right through the onions. This dries them 

 thoroughly, and the bulbs cure down into hard onions of excellent color. 

 Onions cared for in this way usually sprout very little in the regular storage, 

 'and the shrinkage is considerably reduced. The objection to this method 

 is that it is rather expensive due to the extra labor required. In a general 

 way, it would seem that the Ohio method of crating the onions and stacking 

 them in the field would be preferable. 



Cost of Production. 

 The cost of raising an acre of onions in 1915, based on the best figures 

 obtainable, and the items among which the cost is distributed, are as 

 follows : — 



Cost of Producing an Acre of Onions to the Landowner. 

 Value of land, $300 00 



Rent (calculated at 5 per cent.) 

 Tools, etc.: — 



Seeder, 



Hand cultivator 



Onion hoe, 



Shove hoe. 



Shovel, 



Screen, 



Baskets (2), 



Shears, 



Rake, 



$15 00 



$13 00 



4 50 



75 



1 50 



1 50 



13 50 



1 00 



75 



50 



$37 00 



146 50 



Total investment in farm equipment, 



$183 50 



