M. FERRY & GO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



39 



OIVION 



Tlie Onion not only contains considerable nutriment and has valuable medicinal properties, but is most useful in 

 counteracting the bad effects of sedentary life. The disagreeable odor it imparts to the breath may be avoided in a 

 great measure by thorough cooking, or by eating a few leaves of parsley. 



In onion culture, thorough preparation of the ground, careful sowing and the best of after culture, though essential 

 for a full yield, will avail nothing unless seed of the best quality be used. Given the same care and conditions, the prod- 

 uct from two lots of onion seed of the same variety but of different quality may be so unequal in^ the quantity of 

 merchantable onions that it would be more profitable to use the good seed though it cost twenty times as much as the 

 other. 



Our thorough equipment and long experience in growing onion seed of the very best quality, enables us to say with- 

 out hesitation that our stock is fully equal to any and superior in quality to most that is offered. 



Although onions are often raised from sets and from division, by far the best and cheapest mode of production is 

 from seed. The facility with which seed is soivn and the superior bulbs it produces, recommend it for general use. 



HOW TO RAISE ONIONS 



THE SOIL. A crop of onions can be grown on any soil 

 which will produce a full crop of corn, but on a stiff clay, 

 very light sand or gravel, or on sotne muck or swamp lands, 

 neither a large nor a very profitable crop can be grown. We 

 prefer a rich loam with a slight mixture of clay. This is 

 much better if it has been cultivated with hoed crops, kept 

 clean from weeds and well manured for two years previous, 

 because if a sufficient quantity of manure to raise an ordinary 

 soil to a proper degree of fertility ie applied at once, it is 

 likely to make the onions soft. The same result will follow if 

 we sow on rank, mucky ground or on that which is too wet. 



MANURING. There is no crop in which a liberal use of 

 manure is more essential than in this and it should be of the 

 best quality, well fermented and shoveled over at least twice 

 during the previous summer to kill weed seeds. If rank, 

 fresh manure is used, it is liable to result in soft bulbs with 

 many scallions. Of the commercial manures, any of the high 

 grade, complete fertilizers are good for ordinary soils and 

 even very rich soils are frequently greatly benefited by fine 

 ground bone and mucky ones by a liberal dressing of wood 

 ashes. 



PREPARATION. Remove all refuse of previous crops 

 in time to complete the work before the ground freezes up 

 and spread the composted manure evenly at the rate of 

 about fifty cart loads to the acre. This should first be 

 cultivated in and tfien the ground ploughed a moderate 

 depth, taking a narrow furrow in order to thoroughly mix 

 the manure with the soil. Carefully avoid tramping on 

 the ground during the winter. Cultivate or thoroughly 

 stir the soil with a deep working cultivator or harrow as 

 early in the spring as it can be worked and then in the 

 opposite direction with a light one, after which the entire 

 surface should be made fine and level with a smoothing 

 harrow or hand rakes. It is impossible to cultivate the 

 crop economically unless the rows are perfectly straight; 

 to secure this, stretch a line along one side, fourteen feet 

 from the edge and make a distinct mark along it; then, 

 having made a wooden marker, something like a giant rake 

 with five teeth about a foot long and standing fourteen 

 inches apart, make four more marks by carefully drawing 

 it with the outside tooth in and the head at right angles to 

 the perfectly straight mark made by the line. Continue to 



work around this line until on the third passage of the 

 marker, you reach the side of the field where you began; 

 measure fifteen feet two inches from the last row, stretch 

 the line again and mark around in the same way. This is 

 better than to stretch a line along one side as it is impossi- 

 ble to prevent the rows gradually becoming crooked and by 

 this plan we straighten them after every third passage of 

 the marker. 



SOWING THE SEED. This should be done as soon as 

 the ground can be gotten ready and can be done best by a 

 hand seed drill. This should be carefully adjusted to sow 

 the desired quantity of seed about one-half inch deep. The 

 quantity needed will vary with the soil, the seed used and 

 the kind of onions desired. Thin seeding gives much larger 

 onions than thick seeding. Four or five pounds per acre is 

 the usual quantity needed to grow large onions. We use a 

 drill with a roller attached, but if the drill has none, the 

 ground should be well rolled with a light hand roller imme- 

 diately after the seed is planted. 



CULTIVATION. Give the onions the first hoeing just 

 skimming the ground between the rows, as soon as they can 

 be seen in the row. Hoe again in a few days, this time close 

 up to the plants, after which weeding must be begun. This 

 operation requires to be carefully and thoroughly done. 

 The weeder must work on his knees astride the row, stirring 

 the earth around the plants, in order to destroy any weeds 

 that have just started. At this weeding or the next, accord- 

 ing to size of the plants, the rows should be thinned, leaving 

 from eight to twelve plants to the foot. In ten days or two 

 weeks they will require another hoeing and weeding similar 

 to the last and two weeks later give them still another hoe- 

 ing and if necessary another weeding. If the work has 

 been thoroughly done at the proper time, the crop will not 

 require further care until ready to gather. 



GATHERING. As soon as the tops die and fall, the 

 bulbs should be gathered into windrows. If the weather is 

 fine they will need no attention while ctiring, but if it is not 

 they will need to be stirred by simply moving them slightly 

 along the row. Cut off the tops when perfectly dry, about 

 half an inch from the bulb and then after a few days of 

 bright weather the onions will be fit to store for the winter. 



It will not do to store onions in large piles or masses, particularly in warm weather, or if they are the least moist, but if 

 perfectly dry when gathered and they are spread not to exceed two feet in depth, they can be kept in fine coiKdition till spring. 

 Any arrangement will answer that will keep them dry and at a uniform temperature of about 32*^ Fr. , or thejf may be kept fro- 

 zen, care being taken not to disturb them. They should be thawed gradually. Repeated freezing and thawin j will spoil them. 



F-vffa Pa*»lv R^rl Although the first of the red sorts to ripin still the bulbs 

 •"^••ra. Iljariy I\,CU are firm and keep remarkably well. A medium sized, flat 



variety: an abundant producer and very uniform in shape and size; moderately strong 



flavored and comes into use a week or ten 



days earlier than the Large Red Wethersfield. 



Very desirable for early market use. Pkt. 5c ; 



Oz. 30c: 3 Oz. 35c; H Lb. 60c; Lb. $3.00 



Extra Early Red 



f ofo-tf^ P^rl This is the standard red variety and 

 *-•<** 5 c Axcu a favorite onion in the east, where 

 WAfVkAVefiAl^^ immense crops are grown for 

 VYCLllClMlCia shipment. Bulb large, flatten- 

 ed, yet quite thick; skin deep purple-red; flesh 

 purplish-white, moderately fine grained and rather 

 strong flavored. Very productive, the best keeper and 

 one of the most popular for general cultivation. It 

 is more inclined to form large necks if planted on un- 

 suitable soil than the Danvers, but is the best variety 

 on poor or dry soils. Pkt. 5c; Oz. 30c; 3 'Oz. 35c; 

 ^Lb; 60c; Lb. $3.00 



Large Red Wethersfield 



