400 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



nailed to three-cornered vertical pieces of oak at each 

 corner on the inside of the crate. When stacked in the 

 storehouses (Figure 95) i x 3-inch strips are placed 

 between them, to permit free circulation of the air. 

 Although bags and bins are also used in storing onions, 

 neither are as satisfactory as crates, because they do not 

 allow so free a circulation of air and the space cannot be 

 used so economically. 



542. Marketing. — The bulbs are usually separated into 

 three grades: Primes, which include bulbs 1% inches in 

 diameter and larger; seconds, which are from ^ inch to 

 ij^ inches in diameter; and picklers, which pass through 

 a %-inch screen. 



Onions are marketed in a great variety of packages, 

 as crates, bags, barrels and many different sizes and 

 types of baskets. 



543. Yields and returns. — Yields from seed sown in 

 the open ground vary from 300 to 1,000 or more bushels 

 an acre, but it is very rare th&t more than 1,000 bushels 

 an acre are obtained by this method, and seldom that 

 900 to 1,000 are secured. Growers sometimes average 

 600, although 500 bushels is a good yield. 



Estimates for the cost of growing. vary extremely. A 

 Michigan grower gives the following estimate for' an 

 acre: 



Manure and hauling $15 



Plowing and harrowing 8 



Seed 8 



Drilling i 



Cultivating I4 



Weeding 16 



Harvesting 10 



Topping 8 



Total $80 



