73 



spection and tlie society's premium, were raised on the same 

 land and under the same treatment as the crop that received 

 the premium in 1883 ; the only difference being that the crop 

 of '83 was the fifth year that onions had been raised on 

 the same land with nothing but phosphates as a fertilizer, 

 and the crop of this season is the sixth consecutive year. 



The onion field was ploughed last fall to the depth of four 

 inches. About the first of May, 1884, 1,000 pounds of 

 '' Standard " phosphate was sowed broadcast on the half 

 acre, and immediately harrowed in, but on account of the 

 heavy rains we were unable to sow the seed until the 11th 

 of May. The seed was raised by a member of your com- 

 mittee, George A. Randall — who always has the best — and 

 was sowed in drills fourteen inches apart, and at the rate of 

 five pounds per acre. They came up nicely, and as soon as 

 they were large enough to hoe without burying, the wheel 

 hoe was put to work and kept at it. At first, an 8-inch 

 hoe was used, and later on, as the onions grew larger, a 

 10-inch. 



They were kept constantly free from weeds, grew fast 

 and thanks to a " late fall," ripened down well, and were 

 nearly all merchantable, there being but few small onions. 

 We finished topping Oct. 17th, and have 379| bushels, or 

 759 bushels to the acre. 



They were measured in baskets, twelve of which were 



weighed and varied in weight from fifty-one to fifty-five 



pounds, only two of them weighing less than fifty-two 



pounds. I inclose certificates of measurement of land and 



onions, also giving below the cost of raising the crop, and, 



although, the price of onions this fall is extremely low — 50 



cents per bushel, still the crop on this half acre makes the 



profit an extremely satisfactory one. 



Ploughing and harrowing, i2 50 



Phosphate, 20 00 



Sowing the same, 50 



Sowing Onions, 75 



Hoeing Onions, 7 50 



