HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



and then they are piled up and are ready for the 

 "toppers." The toppers cut the roots and stalks off 

 and place the onions in baskets and sacks, ready for 

 the market. All of the onions are not dug, however; 

 the grower allows an acre or two to keep on growing 

 till the stalks are four or five feet high. On the 

 very top large seed-balls grow, and when ripe they 

 are cut from the onion which some growers allow 

 to remain in the ground until the next year, thus get- 

 ting a double crop of seed from each onion. Good 

 ground will yield about 400 pounds of seed to an acre 

 and 300 or more bushels of big onions for market. 



Marketing. In regard to "bunch" or early 

 green onions, an Illinois grower writes : Don't begin 

 on the onions till they are large enough so that not 

 more than five or six are required to make a bunch. 

 See to it that the bunches 

 are uniform in size, and 

 that the onions are clean 

 and bright (see picture). 

 It is very hard to fore- 

 cast the onion market. 

 Some seasons the early 

 market is the best ; at 

 other times the best 

 prices are obtained later. 

 Styles of shipping crates 

 vary in different localities. 

 Here we use a flat crate 

 holding ten dozen bunches ; it has a division through 

 the center. The onions, after they are bunched and 

 tied, are cut in lengths about an inch shorter than 

 the space between the ends of the crate and the 

 division board. In packing, the bunches are placed 

 lengthwise of the crate. By placing the butts of the 



BUNCHING." HAVE BUNCHES 

 UNIFORM IN SIZE AND 

 ONIONS CLEAN 



