ONION 



1463 



rain immediately after seeding will so 

 pack the surface that the seedlings can 

 not break through. Under such circum- 

 stances it will be necessary to slightly 

 break the surface by means of a steel 

 rake or a rake-like attachment on a cul- 

 tivator. As soon as the plants are up 

 and the rows can be followed the culti- 

 vator should be started to loosen the soil, 

 which is always more or less compacted 

 during seeding. 



Hand Cultivation 

 Where the rows are 14 inches or less 

 apart, the work of caring for the crop 

 must all be done by hand. For this pur- 

 pose the wheel-hoe tools of various types 

 are essential. These implements are pro- 

 vided with several kinds of hoes, cutters, 

 and sweeps designed to work the soil 

 away from the plants, to shave the sur- 

 face and destroy weeds, and to stir the 



Fig. 2. Hish-Wheel Type of Hoe (Patented). 



soil and work it back around the plants. 

 Onions grown on muck and alluvial soils 

 will require from eight to 14 workings 

 with the wheel-hoe implements; on shady 

 soils it will not be necessary to cultivate 

 so frequently. 



Several types of wheel hoe are in use, 

 but those having a single wheel and 

 passing between the rows are most de- 

 sirable. Many growers have designed spe- 

 cial implements to suit the requirements 

 of their soils; two of thece are shown 



in Fig. 1, the one designed to cut the soil 

 away from the row and the other to stir 

 and work the soil back to the row. 



Horse Cultivation 



In sections where onions are grown 

 on a soil that is not well adapted to hand 

 culture the rows are placed 30 to 36 

 inches apart and the cultivation is per- 

 formed by means of horse-drawn tools. 

 This is particularly true where onions 

 are grown on the "black waxy" soils of 

 Texas and other soils of the prairie type. 



Hand Weeding 



It is well-nigh impossible to produce a 

 crop of onions without some hand weed- 

 ing. During favorable seasons the strict- 

 ly hand work may be reduced to but one 

 or two weedings, but a greater number 

 will be necessary during rainy seasons. 

 Each hand weeding will cost from $5 to 

 $12 an acre, according to wages paid and 

 the number of weeds present. The work 

 of hand weeding may be facilitated by 

 the use of some of the small hand tools 

 designed for the purpose. 



Propagation 



Most of the onions grown in the United 

 States are propagated from seed. Prop- 

 agation from seed is conducted by three 

 more or less distinct methods: First, by 

 sowing the seed in the rows where the 

 crop is to grow and mature; second, by 

 sowing the seed in specially prepared 

 beds and transplanting the seedlings to 

 the open ground; third, by first growing 

 sets from seed and then, after keeping 

 through the winter, planting them in the 

 field to produce the crop of mature bulbs. 

 Of these three methods the one first men- 

 tioned of seeding in the rows where the 

 crop is to mature is the only one that is 

 practical on a very large scale. 



Planting the Seed 



In the northern onion-growing dis- 

 tricts the seed is sown as early in the 

 spring as the soil can be brought to the 

 proper condition. While it is desirable 

 to plant quite early it never pays to sow 

 the seed before the land is in the best 

 possible condition. When the soil has 

 been brought to a smooth, even surface 

 and is fine and mellow, the seed is sown 



