2l6 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



These crates are put in long rows on the field, with 

 the edge of one crate resting on the other to keep 

 the bottom off the ground as much as possible. 

 Allow the sets to dry. 



IMPORTANCE OF DRYNESS 



*' If it looks like storm, the crates must be piled 

 up one crate on top of the other, about i6 or i8 

 crates high. After the crates are piled I take an- 

 other made especially for this, and turn it bottom 

 upward over the pile to keep the water out. The 

 top crate is made watertight, and when placed in 

 position should be slanted a little to allow the 

 water to run off. The sets should never be allowed 

 to get wet after being gathered. If they do it will 

 turn them greenish, and have a tendency to de- 

 crease the price. Crates so piled should be taken 

 down again and put in rows as soon as convenient 

 after the storm. 



" Leave them spread out in the field until 

 about September lo, then clean them, thoroughly 

 rubbing them between the hands. After they are 

 rubbed they should be carted to the barn and run 

 through a fanning mill. This will take dirt out. 

 The principal thing to do is to get the onions too 

 large for sets out at the time of getting the dirt 

 out. These are sold for stewers and picklers. 

 The stewers are about the size of a 25-cent piece, and 

 larger. The picklers are smaller, but not as small 

 as sets. I usually use a seven-eighths-inch screen 

 fanning mill to get these picklers and stewers out. 

 All that don't go through I sell, sorting them out 

 by hand. 



" The picklers I ship to New York commission 

 merchants to be sold on commission late in Octo- 



