10 . 



and picklers. Incidentally this cleans and improves the looks 

 of the crop. From the screens the onions are put into bags 

 holding 100 pounds net and sewed up, and are then ready for 

 shipment. The practice of putting the crop into new and 

 uniform bags is gaining in favor, especially at the market end 

 of the business. 



Marketing. 



The bulk of the onion crop is sold to a bu3'er in the fall; 

 indeed, if the grower has not storage he must either sell the 

 crop or rent storage. The system of storage houses that has 

 grown up in the valley within a few years is the direct result 

 of necessity. The old practice of dumping the whole crop of 

 valley-grown onions on the market as soon as ready was dis- 

 astrous, as it simply meant glutting the market and unsettling 

 market prices to a marked degree. Whether to sell or to hold 

 in storage is a question for every grower to settle for himself, 

 as his own circumstances will be the determining factor. One 

 prominent grower and dealer made this statement this winter, 

 "that in a period covering ten years the grower who sold in the 

 fall would make fully as much money as the man who held in 

 storage." There is the cost of handling, storage and shrinking 

 to take into consideration, and as before stated each grower 

 will have to decide the question for himself. The buyer stores 

 the onions and then supplies the market as fast as the demand 

 appears. 



Troubles. 



Yes, the onion grower has them, and some years there are 

 plenty. Perhaps the first thing that troubles the grower and 

 causes him to lose sleep is the high wind that comes each 

 spring through April and May. This is especially dangerous 

 for the man who is raising onions on light land, as the wind 

 will in some cases blow the seed from the ground, and every 

 year finds some fields resown for this reason. The only remedy 

 for this trouble is irrigation, of which more will be said later. 



Next, the onion maggot has the floor, and as yet no remedy 

 for this pest has appeared. The eggs of this insect are laid by 

 the onion fly on the outside of the plant close down to the 

 earth; the eggs hatch and the young maggot directly eats his 

 way into the heart of the plant. The first sign of trouble 



