LOWLY ONION A PROFITABLE CROP 169 



If the soil has been well fertilized with stable manure 

 or poultry droppings, and worked over several times 

 before the onions are transplanted to the rows, there will 

 be but few weeds to contend with, and the plants will not 

 be checked in growth. 



Onions should follow potatoes, beans or corn. The 

 land should be well plowed in the autumn, disked and 

 harrowed in the spring, until it is as fine as garden soil. 



Always manure heavily before breaking up the land in 

 the fall. On new land, cowpeas are excellent for bringing 

 the land into shape. 



Onions should be grown under a system of crop rota- 

 tion, but the crops used in the rotation must be those that 

 will not exhaust the high fertility necessary to onions. 



One of the most important things in onion culture is 

 to mix the fertilizer with the soil. On land that is not 

 thoroughly drained, plow in beds, leaving a double furrow 

 between the beds to carry off surplus water. 



The disk harrow puts the land in fine condition after 

 it has been thoroughly plowed in the fall. Never use 

 manure, except that which is well rotted. Bermuda onion 

 growers use as high as twenty tons of sheep and goat 

 manure per acre every three years. Often, in addition to 

 this, they use 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of cottonseed meal, 

 and sometimes a top dressing of nitrate of soda. 



Seed is sown as early in the spring as possible, but 

 never before the land is in the best possible condition. 

 Seed may be sown by hand drills in rows from twelve to 

 fourteen inches apart. Where horse culture is employed, 

 the distance should be at least two feet. It requires about 

 four pounds of seed per acre where it is drilled fourteen 

 inches apart. 



As soon as the plants are growing well, the cultivator 

 should be started and kept going in order to keep the soil 

 in good condition and to prevent weeds. 



A great deal of the art in securing a large yield 



