58 



THE Snrn^ ANNUAI^ OF THE 



ping from the West is exhausted and hits the market at the proper time. We would 

 recommend the Bermuda for home use and home market, but for shipping, to distant 

 markets, it is unfit, as it decays quickh% and when dry peels off. The Creole has the pre- 

 ference, even shot up onions sell for a better price than the Bermuda. None of the North- 

 ern grown seed sown here ivill produce any Onion. 



Red Bermuda. 

 White Bermuda. 



The X/Ouisiana or Creole Onion has 



been cultivated here for a century — sup- 

 posed to have been brought first from the 

 south of Europe; we presume the bulbs 

 produced but few seeds. : It is hard to say, 

 from what variety this Onion originated; 

 having been planted here for so long it has 

 become a distinct kind. It is not as red 

 as the Wethersfield. and not as light as the 

 Strassburg; in flavor it is similar to the 

 two last named varieties, but much stronger 

 than the Ltalian kinds. In this latitude the 

 seed should be sown from the 15th of Sep- 

 tember to about the loth of October; if 

 sown sooner, a good many will throw up 

 seed stalks, which impairs the keeping 

 quality of the Onion. We sow the seed 

 broadcast, protect the seed beds by spread- 

 ing green moss over them, which is remov- 

 ed every evening and replaced in the morn- 

 ing. Some gardeners use Latania leaves 

 for covering the beds. When the seed is 

 coming up, say in 7 or 9 days, the cover has 

 to be removed entirely; but if the weather 

 is dry, the watering has to be continued. 

 They thrive best in loamy soil. Can be 

 planted in the same ground for yeais; and 

 require no rotation as other crops. 



When the plants have reached the size of 

 a goose quill, they are transplanted into rows 

 which can be from one to two feet apart, ac- 

 cording to the mode of cultivation, and about 

 five or six inches apart in the rows. The 

 ground should be thoroughly prepared be- 

 fore setting out the plants. We generally 

 shorten the the tops and roots. In April the 

 Onion will be ready to be taken up. 



Louisiana or Creole. 

 White Queen. 



In sections where it is too cold to sow Onion 



seed in the fall, the Creole seed can be sown 



in January and February; in that case they 



should be sown very thinly in drills, thinned 

 out to a proper stand, and by the end of 

 spring they will produce a good sized Onion. 

 Growers here use very little, if any fertili- 

 zers, but it can be used with advantage. One 

 of our principal Onion growers used 500 

 pounds of phosphated bone on some of his 

 crop, and the result was ver}- satisfactory. 

 He sold from three acres, 250 barrels of 

 Onions, flour barrels, well packed for ship- 

 ping, not produce barrels as sent here from 

 the West. He also had a lot of small ones 

 left for home use. For spring sowing we 

 would recommend the Bermuda seed. 



The seed of the Creole Onicn, which we 

 offer, is grown for us by an old experienced 

 Onion grower at Lafourche; he has raised 

 seed for Mr. Frotscher for nearly 20 years. 

 No better stock can be found. We do not 

 depend upon chance purchases; very often 

 seed raised from shot up Onions are sold 

 very low. but will not produce good mer- 

 chantable Onions, having a tendency to go 

 to seed again before the bulb is matured. 

 Most gardeners here know all about the 

 cultivation of the Creole Onion; these re- 

 marks, therefore, are made for those who 

 live in adjoining States where the Creole 

 Onion can be successfully cultivated — more 

 so in Texas, Mississippi and Florida. The 

 demand for Creole Onion seed from these 

 sections increases every year, especially 

 from Texas. 



Good Crops are the result of perfect Seed and good CuIUvation, 



