OKRA—ONION. 63 
all plants which are not true to variety as respects 
dwarfness or tallness, shape and color of pods. 
In Alabama, where the most of the seed now sold by 
the trade is grown, sowing is done from April 15th to 
May 15th; good cotton land is preferred for the crop. 
Harvest begins there in the latter part of October and is 
continued into November, or until after plants have 
been killed by frost, for okra keeps on bearing fruit 
until frost. 
The ripe pods are cut by hand, the use of a machine 
for harvesting not being possible, owing to the thickness 
of the stalks, which frequently attain to two inches in 
diameter. Pods are taken at once to the barn or shed 
to be dried, after which they are shelled in a thresher or 
a cow-pea huller; a corn-sheller does the work very well. 
A small quantity may either be threshed in a bag or 
shelled by hand. Clean in the fan-mill. Store, when 
seed is perfectly dry, in sacks. 
All seed-dealers handle okra seed, the heaviest de- 
mand being from the Southern States. It is all grown 
in this country; mostly in Alabama and Georgia, some 
in New Jersey. In a good season a seed-yield is from 
750 to 1,000 pounds per acre, at an average price to the 
grower of ten cents per pound. 
ONION. 
Onion seed can be grown with success in most any 
section of the United States. Soil for it should be 
moderately rich; if too rich, blossoms are liable to 
blight. 
Bulbs for a seed-crop should be sorted carefully, 
throwing out all which, in shape and color, are not 
according to variety. No bulb under the size of a 
walnut should be planted for seed. Full-grown bulbs, 
