ONION. Ill 



they may be pulled, as there is some danger of their 

 making a second start if the season is rainy. In 

 such a case they must be drawn out and cured quickly. 

 In a dry storing-room onions may be kept for a long 

 time to await a favorable market. 



CRATING. 



It is not necessary to use a fine material to make 

 onion crates; the poorer quality left from sorting to- 

 mato crates will be found to bring as good a price as 

 the finer ones. In packing, the crates should be well 

 filled to prevent the product from being bruised, as 

 they rot down very quickly. All culls should be re- 

 moved from the field, and composted, to prevent them 

 from drawing insects and growing fungi. 



RAISING ONIONS FROM SETS. 



The earliest onions to mature in the North are those 

 raised from sets. The operation differs from the above 

 only in that the sets are in a dormant state and are 

 handled more easily. The general directions will re- 

 main the same. 



VARIETIES. 



The only onion that has been mentioned in the pre- 

 vious pages is the Bermuda (see Fig. 15), but it should 

 not be understood that this is the only one worthy of 

 trial. 



There are three general classes into which we may 

 divide onions ; the Potato onion, the Egyptian onion, 

 and the ordinary Seed onion. The first kind usually 

 does not produce seed, but multiplies by producing 

 small bulblets at the base of the one set out, remind- 

 ing one somewhat of potatoes in a hill. This is a good 

 kind to produce green onions quickly for bunching. 



The Egyptian (see Fig. 16) or perennial tree onion 

 bears the bulblets on the top of a long seed stem while 



