18 ONIONS FOR PROFIT. 



growing, and where such land is at command, there is no 

 need of looking elsewhere for the right location. 



Of course, not everybody can have an ideal spot for his 

 onion venture. I have had to be contented with rather 

 inferior soil for some time, and yet have been quite success- 

 ful. My rule is to take the best at hand, and then try to 

 make the most of it. Soils not in condition to be planted 

 now may be rendered suitable for planting next year or 

 the year after. If they are not perfectly underdrained, the 

 laying of a few lines of tile will make them so ; if not rich 

 enough, heavy dressings of barnyard manure for a few 

 years will supply the deficiency in humus and fertility ; if 

 too weedy, a few seasons' thorough cultivation will render 

 them reasonably clean. 



To tell the whole story in a few words, I would say, use 

 any kind of rich, clean soil, provided it is thoroughly 

 underdrained, either by nature or by man's agency, and 

 reasonably free from w^eed seeds, and in such mechanical 

 condition that it will allow you to prepare a seed bed 

 ''fine and mellow as an ash heap." 



Soil Antecedents. 



It is always well to know the antecedents of a piece of 

 ground in order to reach a just conclusion concerning the 

 degree in which it is suitable for onion growing. As a 

 rule, its desirability for the purpose increases in the same 

 ratio as the intensity of culture that it has received for 

 some time back. 



A few days ago a friend showed me a piece of land 

 which he intends to plant to onions, and which seems to 

 me ideal, not only in soil but in preparation also. It is a 

 deep brown loam on the flats. 



'' You should have seen the crop of clover that grew on 

 this field three years ago. Simply immense!" said he. 



