1398 Tur VecetasLe Inpustry or New Yorx State 
After the crop is harvested there comes the great problem of 
disposing of it. Whether to sell from the field or place in 
storage and wait for an advance in price, is the problem. The 
onion reports are of value, but it is a very wise man indeed who 
can tell anything about what the market will be. 
Unless the grower has his own storehouse there must be a 
great advance in price in order to make the storing profitable, for 
the cost of storage and the shrinkage in weight will soon wipe out 
all the profits there may appear to be in an increase of price per 
bushel. 
COST OF GROWING THE CROP, AND YIELD 
The cost of growing an acre of onions is about $135.00. Some- 
times a thousand bushels will be grown on an acre, although eight 
hundred bushels is considered a good crop. The average price per 
bushel received by the grower for the last ten years is about 50 
cents, so that one can reasonably expect a net income of two or 
three hundred dollars from each acre. 
DIFFICULTIES 
An old Irishman who had grown onions for years, when asked 
what effect a flood would have upon a crop, replied, “ Inions, 
inions, little divils, you can’t kill em!” But there are several 
things that may reduce the yield to a point where it ceases to be 
profitable. The chief troubles are the maggot, thrip and blight. 
The maggot appears upon the scene very early. When the 
plants are only three or four inches high one of them may seem 
wilted. Investigate, and two or three maggots may be found in 
the plant. These maggots would develop into flies which would 
lay eggs from which maggots would be hatched and so on all 
summer, and every maggot takes its toll frem the onion crop. To 
prevent the maggot, some recommend the use of kainite, others 
salt; but while these may discourage the maggot somewhat, it 
is doubtful if they are very beneficial. 
The thrip comes next and makes its presence known by the 
spotted appearance of the stalk. Nothing has been found as yet 
that is effective in fighting this pest. 
A little later comes the blight. The tips of the stalks tum 
brown, and gradually the entire stalk becomes brown, the bulb 
