136 



My method of curing and storing the onion crop is some- 

 what different from any other that J have noticed. After 

 raking out I allow them to dry a few days, just enough to 

 get the outside moisture off from them, and then pick them 

 uj) into crates, which I make about the size of a bushel box 

 only somewhat deeper and slat two sides in place of mak- 

 ing them solid all round. These crates when filled are 

 piled up perhaps six high and two wide and as long a row 

 as necessary, and are then covered with a strip of water- 

 proof cloth, which 1 buy for this purpose in strips 5 ft. wide 

 and 50 feet long, and are then allowed to stand out doors 

 till November, perhaps six weeks after raking out. The 

 sun shines on them and the drying autumn winds blow 

 through and ripen them perfectly, so that they will keep 

 through the winter without sprouting or rotting. 



In topping onions I find it most convenient to have a low 

 table, perhaps 4 feet by 6 feet and set up on boxes or bar- 

 rels to a handy height to sit up to : such a table will hold 

 four to five bushels and it is very convenient topping, being 

 much handier than topping from the floor which is so com- 

 mon a custom. 



The crates that I have, cost about 7 cents each besides the 

 work, would cost perhaps 12 cents to buy all made ; they 

 will last for years and will almost or quite pay for them- 

 selves the first year in the saving of labor in handling the 

 crop as well as in the improvement in quality. I have 

 about 700 of them and should not know how to get along 

 without them. 



NOTE — Of Crops of David Warren that could not be completed on 

 Pages 108 and 111, the information not being received soon enough. 



SQUASH CROP. 



Product per acre, 27,685 lbs. squashes, $276.85 



Expenses per acre, 57.50 



Profit per acre, si'19.35 



CABBAGE CHOP. 



Product per acre, 5000 cabbages, valued in the field o cents 

 each, although of much more value to him for seed 

 stock, which he retains them for, than the market value, $153.00 



Expenses per acre, 60 SO 



Prolit, $89.20 



