68 THE SEED-GROWER. 



directed and let them remain till the frost has naturally 

 and gradually gone out of them. Always handle onion 

 sets as you would apples, for even slight bruises will 

 cause them to rot. 



They may be stored in the barn or warehouse, spread 

 out to the depth of five or six inches on a loose floor 

 where the air can pass up through them. On approach 

 of extremely cold weather, say 10 or so above zero, the 

 floor, if loose, should be covered with tar-paper and 

 the sets heaped upon it to a depth of about 18 inches, 

 and covered with grain bags, old carpet, tar-paper, hay 

 or straw. The doors, windows and all crevices should 

 be closed, and kept so while the cold spell lasts. 



Some of the larger growers store in crates. These 

 crates are usually three feet wide by four feet long; the 

 bottoms being made openly of plastering lath, the sides 

 four inches in depth, with the end-pieces six inches 

 high, which latter is to" permit circulation of air between 

 the crates when they are set on top of one another. In 

 piling them, they are generally placed four to eight 

 crates high. In case of cold weather, ten or so above 

 zero, the crates are kept covered well with tar-paper to 

 keep out the cold air. 



Before shipment give a final cleaning by running 

 through the fan-mill. 



Market. For many years Pennsylvania held the 

 lead in the Union for the production of onion sets. In 

 those days, growers obtained on an average $4.00 a 

 bushel for yellow and $5.00 for white; when there was 

 a short crop, prices advanced to $8.00 and $10.00 and 

 higher, per bushel. But prices have lowered exceed- 

 ingly since the West has taken up production. It is to be 

 remembered that there was scarcely a bushel of onion 

 sets raised around Chicago thirty-five years ago, whereas 



