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GOOD SEED 



Mr. Greffrath : One of the best ways to get a good type 

 of seed would be to go through your field just at the time when 

 the crop is dying. You could then select a type that is ripen- 

 ing uniformly. Gather a bushel or so of uniform color, uni- 

 form size, the shape that you want to breed up to. Plant 

 them and then make your selections from the plot. I know 

 that several of the growers at South Lima are beginning to 

 practice this method. The other plan that we use there, in 

 selecting our seed, is to make the selection when the onions 

 are taken out of the storehouse. This gives us a special 

 keeping variety. We can get a good onion to hold up, but 

 there is one thing we are lacking in making that kind of a 

 selection. We do not get an onion that ripens evenly in the 

 fall, which would be overcome if we made selections in the 

 field. 



Question : Do you give the same treatment as you would 

 in growing the ordinary onion? 



Mr. Greffrath : The bulbs should be wintered over, then 

 planted in the spring and given the same treatment till the 

 top is ready to cut of£ and seed is cured. 



Question: How do you thrash onion seed? 



Mr. Greffrath: I should say the clover huller is a good 

 thing to thrash them out. But the majority of seed in our 

 section is rubbed out in the winter time by hand through a 

 screen that is just large enough to permit the seed to go down 

 through and separate the hulls. On a good clear day when 

 the atmosphere is dry, it takes but a little time. Then run 

 the seed through a fanning mill. 



Question : Do you wash the seed ? 



Mr. Greffrath: Yes, sir. I would take, say, a half 

 bushel, put it into a wash tub, fill the tub with water, stir it, 

 and all that remains floating will go overboard. When you 

 do that, you want to be careful to thoroughly dry your seed 

 before you sack it. This seed is water cleaned. Then it is 

 suspended on sieves of mosquito netting or something finer. 

 The screens are four feet wide and six feet long, and are put 

 in the greenhouse. Some of the growers do not clean it until 



