153 



Bulb or Onion Crops 



means of grading onion bulbs is to run them over a rack 

 with slat bottom, or other form of grader, the slats being 

 at such distance apart as to allow the large bulbs to pass 

 over, but to catch all the small ones and to drop them 

 through, the spaces. The large bulbs are worked over the 

 end of the table into baskets or barrels. 



Storing. 



Mature onions ordinarily will not stand freezing and 

 thawing. Therefore, if they are stored for the winter, 

 they must be put in a frost-proof place. They must be 

 kept dry. Winter store-houses in the North are often pro- 

 vided with iire heat. Onions may be frozen with safety, 

 however, provided they do not thaw out until spring and 

 the thawing is then gradual. They may be stored in 

 the loft on the north side of a building, where the sun 

 does not strike the roof, and covered several feet thick 



with straw or 

 loose hay. In the 

 spring the straw 

 is gradually re- 

 moved and they 

 are allowed to 

 thaw slowly. 

 When the winter 

 temperature is 

 very uniform, 

 this method of 

 keeping onions may be safe; but in regions of marked 

 fluctuations in winter temperature it is not to be recom- 

 mended. 



storage-house for onions. 



