68 THE SEED-GROWER. 
directed and let them remain till the frost has naturally 
and gradually gone out of them. Always handle onion 
sets as you would apples, for even slight bruises will 
cause them to rot. 
They may be stored in the barn or warehouse, spread 
out to the depth of five or six inches on a loose floor 
where the air can pass up through them. On approach 
of extremely cold weather, say 10 or so above zero, the 
floor, if loose, should be covered with tar-paper and 
the sets heaped upon it to a depth of about 18 inches, 
and covered with grain bags, old carpet, tar-paper, hay 
or straw. The doors, windows and all crevices should 
be closed, and kept so while the cold spell lasts. 
Some of the larger growers store in crates. These 
crates are usually three feet wide by four feet long; the 
bottoms being made openly of plastering lath, the sides 
four inches in depth, with the end-pieces six inches 
high, which latter is to permit circulation of air between 
the crates when they are set on top of one another. In 
piling them, they are generally placed four to eight 
crates high. In case of cold weather, ten or so above 
zero, the crates are kept covered well with tar-paper to 
keep out the cold air. 
Before shipment give a final cleaning by running 
through the fan-mill. 
Market.—For many years Pennsylvania held the 
lead in the Union for the production of onion sets. In 
those days, growers obtained on an average $4.00 a 
bushel for yellow and $5.00 for white; when there was 
a short crop, prices advanced to $8.00 and $10.00 and 
higher, per bushel. But prices have lowered exceed- 
ingly since the West has taken up production. Itis to be 
remembered that there was scarcely a bushel of onion 
sets raised around Chicago thirty-five years ago, whereas 
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