156 Teuok Geo wing in the South. 



break the land, usually with disc plows, then harrow down 

 and plant a summer cover crop of cow peas. These are 

 let grow until September , an occasional irrigation be- 

 ing given. Some of the growers let the ground stand un- 

 cultivated during the summer months but the most suc- 

 cessful growers generally now grow a summer cover crop 

 of cow peas which are turned under, adding humus to 

 the soil. Whenever obtainable stable mianure is broad- 

 casted and plowed in, the effects of a single application 

 of manure showing for years afterward. 



Seed is sown in seed beds usually from September 15th 

 to October 1st and let grow until about the size of a slate 

 pencil before transplanting. On seed bed basis, seed is 

 planted at the rate of thirty to thirty-five pounds per acre, 

 one acre of seed bed usually furnishing sufficient number 

 of plants to set ten to twelve acres. 



In the Laredo section the beds are laid out twelve to 

 fifteen feet wide and lOO to 20O feet in length with 

 raised borders to hold the water. The Laredo practice is 

 to flood the beds and with their loose, quickly draining 

 soil this is undoubtedly best but it would be fatal on heavy 

 soils that drain slowly. 



The seed is planted in dry soil followed immediately by 

 an irrigation, a second one being given in five to seven 

 days. 



-Transplanting usually begins about November 15th 

 and is seldom completed on the larger farms until Janu- 

 ary 1st. Rows are laid off every sixteen to eighteen 

 inches apart, an onion plant being set every five or six 

 inches in the row. In extra rich or highly fertilized 

 soil they can be set as close as four inches — in fact it is 



