164 



THE ONION GROUP 



with other plants demanding very thorough tillage. During the 

 preparatory cropping very heavy applications of manure should 

 be made every year, and the land kept free from weeds. In the 

 fall preceding the spring in which the onions are to be planted, 

 from forty to sixty tons of manure should be applied to each acre 

 of ground, and the land deeply plowed. If onions are grown on 

 the same land in succeeding years, as is often the case, similar 

 quantities of manure should be applied for each onion crop. The 

 land will thus be continually getting in better condition for the 

 production of onions with each succeeding crop, unless it becomes 

 infested with insects or infected by diseases. Onions are one of 

 the few crops that give better results if grown successively upon 

 the same land than if new ground is used each year. This is because 

 it takes a few years to get a piece of land in ideal condition for 

 the production of onions, and land once in that condition can be 



Fig. 101. — Meeker harrow. 



kept so, much more readily than a new piece of land can be brought 

 up to the same condition. The " condition " referred to in this 

 connection involves three things: (1) Richness in available plant 

 food, (2) friability due to the presence of large quantities of humus 

 and extremely thorough tillage, and (3) relative freedom from 

 weed seeds. These three factors of soil condition are essential to 

 profitable onion culture. 



Sowing the Seed. — In order that onions may get a good start 

 before hot weather, it is essential that the seed be planted early. 

 This is one reason that the land should be plowed in the fall. At 

 the very earliest date that the fall-plowed land can be worked in 

 the spring, preparations for planting the onions should begin. 

 Soil that is sufficiently friable for the production of onions usually 

 will not need replowing in the spring, so that the first operation 

 in the spring preparatory to planting will be a thorough disking. 



