174 THE ONION GROUP 



plenty of ventilation given; otherwise the seedlings are likely to 

 damp-off. 



Transplanting. — When the time for transplanting arrives, the 

 field should be prepared the same as for sowing onion seed. Rows 

 should then be marked out one foot apart and the seedlings set 

 in the freshly worked soil. Usually both the roots and the tops 

 of the plants are trimmed to a considerable extent. A whole 

 bunch of plants is trimmed at two strokes of the knife, so that 

 very little time is required for this operation. The reason for 

 trimming the roots is to facilitate planting and to avoid having 

 any long roots curl upward. The tops are trimmed to reduce 

 transpiration (see chapter on transplanting) and make the growth 

 of the plant more certain. The transplanting is usually done 

 with dibbers, though in loose soil the workmen's fingers are some- 

 times substituted for the dibbers. 



After transplanting, the crop is immediately tilled, and there- 

 after the treatment is essentially the same as for a crop grown from 

 seed sown directly in the field, except that no thinning is ever 

 required and the necessity of early weeding is eliminated. The 

 success of this method depends primarily upon good plants and 

 extra early planting. In the hands of beginners this method of 

 onion culture is likely to be a failure. 



GROWING RIPE ONIONS FROM SETS 



The surest way for a beginner to grow a good crop of ripe 

 onions is to plant sets. These are miniature onions grown from 

 seed the preceding year (Fig. 110). Their method of production 

 will be described later. They can be procured from almost any 

 seedsman, and are technically known as '' bottom sets.'' These 

 are offered in the three colors, red, yellow and white, but no 

 variety names are usually mentioned. If a person wishes to grow 

 onions of a given variety from sets, he can purchase seed and 

 grow the sets one year, and then store them over winter for the 

 next spring's planting. 



The Three Methods Compared. — The essential factors in grow- 

 ing a large crop of ripe onions from sets are practically the same as 

 for growing a large crop of onions by either of the other methods, 

 viz., very rich soil, extremely early planting, thorough tillage, 

 plenty of moisture. The distinct advantages of using sets as 

 compared with the transplanting method are that the sets can 

 safely be planted considerably earlier, that it is never necessary 



