November, 1906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



315 



and being skimmed ofl from time to time. After 

 the washing the seeds arc again spread out to 

 dry for a period ol from lour days to a week 

 and arc then raked up and passed through a tan- 

 ning mill completel) to remove the remaining 

 chaff and other impurities. After this they are 

 placed in sacks, each of which contains a hun- 

 dred pounds, and are ready to be shipped to the 

 wholesaler. Alter the harvest is over the stub- 

 ble is burned and then plowed into the ground 

 which is gotten ready for planting the next crop 

 after the early rains. All through the growing 

 season the farms are kept in a high state of cul- 

 tivation in order to insure the best possible pro- 

 duct. 



The cultivation of seeds involves the closest 

 attention to detail and almost scientific accuracy 

 at every step. Every rod of all the great tract 

 cultivated is under daily supervision and the con- 

 dition, growth, and nature of each crop is care- 

 fully recorded on comprehensive ground maps. 

 Thus the probable yield of every section is 

 orite as it ripens very early; the Prize-taker, a large yellow calculated, and weeks before the harvest the product of the 

 onion mild in flavor and said to be the best onion in the entire farm is known with extraordinary accuracy. The ex- 



Fanning the Onion Seed 



United States; the 

 purplish-red Southport 

 Red Globe, the Yellow 

 Danver, the Yellow 

 Dutch, the Yellow 

 Strasburg, and many 

 others. 



The onions are 

 planted in December 

 and by August and 

 September the seed has 

 generally matured suf- 

 ficiently to be gath- 

 ered. The gathering 

 is all done by hand, the 

 laborers generally em- 

 ployed being Chinese. 

 As soon as the seed is 

 ripe the gatherers go 

 out into the fields, cut 

 off the tops of the 

 onions with about an 

 inch of stalk and drop 

 them into large baskets 



perts of each farm are 

 constantly conducting 

 investigations with the 

 view to producing new 

 varieties by "hybridiz- 

 ing" or by other 

 means, and should new 

 varieties be developed, 

 exhaustive tests of 

 their permanency and 

 character are made in 

 experimental and trial 

 grounds, and thus be- 

 fore their introduction 

 to the dealer six years 

 of close development 

 and observation are 

 frequently required. 

 To determine the per- 

 centage of vitality in 

 seeds before they are 

 finally shipped, a n 

 average is taken and 

 The seeds are still green when planted in a glass testing house. If eightv-tive per cent, of 



View of a California Onion Ranch, showing Irrigation Trenches 



gathered and if cut in the morning while wet with dew it the sample germinates, the standard is attained 

 takes considerably longer to dry them than if 

 gathered in the afternoon, and hence this period 

 of the day is usually the busiest one on an onion 

 farm, during harvest time. The seed pods are 

 conveyed in sacks by means of wagons to the 

 drying ground, where they are spread out on 

 large sheets to dry in the sunshine. To facili- 

 tate the process of drying the heaps are turned 

 over daily by means of wooden forks. As rain 

 scarcely ever falls during the drying season 

 the operation progresses rapidly in the genial 

 warmth of the sun. When thoroughly dry the 

 pods are conveyed to the threshing machine, of 

 the conventional type, which rapidly winnows 

 the seed from the chaff, the latter flying into the 

 air in a cloud that whitens everybody and every- 

 thing within reach, while the seed is carried into 

 large sacks. After the threshing the seed is 

 washed in a series of troughs where the dirt 

 and imperfectly developed seeds are removed, 

 the latter floating on the surface of the water Spreading the Onion Seed to Dry 



