for a New Money Crop should not raise onions with ease and Food for 

 profit. Plants 



We shall consider here the growing of onions only as a Ia 5 

 field crop for the fall and winter market. The onion can be 

 successfully grown anywhere in the United States where other 

 vegetables thrive. 



The reason that onions have not been more generally 

 grown by farmers is owing to the mistaken idea that it is 

 impossible to grow them without the application of vast 

 quantities of stable manure, but Onion-growing with the 

 aid of chemical fertilizers is not only much cheaper, but the 

 average crop is much larger. The excessive quantity of 

 stable manure required to grow a maximum crop tends to 

 make the land too open, when the great secret of onion 

 culture is to get the land solidified. The ploughing under of 

 so much bulky manure also tends to cut off the moisture sup- 

 ply from below, which is so important in the quick growth 

 of crops of this nature and which can only be obtained by 

 having the soil very compact and in fine tilth so as to promote 

 the capillary movement of the soil moisture to the surface, 

 where it may be retained for the use of the crop by means of 

 frequent and shallow cultivation. 



The advantage of using Nitrate of Soda instead of 

 stable manure as the source of Nitrogen for this crop is 

 plainly evident, as the Nitrate supplies the most beneficial 

 ingredient contained in the stable manure (Nitrogen), and in 

 a form in which it is not dependent upon soil bacteria and 

 weather conditions to make it available for the young plants 

 when they need it most. If it be necessary to add humus to 

 the soil in the form of stable manure it should, if possible, be 

 applied a year in advance. 



Considering the fact that Nitrogen is the element most 

 frequently lacking in our soils, and knowing that the onion 

 responds most liberally to a plentiful feeding of ammoniate 



