D. M. FERRY & GO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 41 



ONION 



The 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 pro- 

 duct from two lots of onion seed of the same variety but of different quality may be so unequal in the quantity of mer- 

 chantable 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 without 

 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 

 lohich seed is soion and the superior bulbs it produces, recommend it for general use. 



HOW TO RAISE ONIONS 



THE SOIL. A crep 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 some 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 is 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. 



JUANURINQ. 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 gi'ound 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 then 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 econ- 

 omically 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 impossible 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 im 

 mediately 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 the 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 hoeing 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 curing, but if it is not 

 they will need to be stirred by simply moYinij; 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 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 condition till spring. 

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

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



P . 17 1 D J Although the first of the red sorts to ripen, still the bulbs 



HXtra. Harly Keel are firm and keep remarkably well. A medium sized, flat 



variety; an abundant producer and very uni 



form in shape and size; moderately strong 



flavored and comes into use a v/eek or ten 



days earlier than the Large Red Wethersfleld 



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



Oz. 30c; 3 Oz. 35c; h Lb. 60c; Lb. $3.00 



Extra Early Red 



Large Red Wethersfield ard^red variety 



and a favorite onion in the east, where immense crops 

 are grown for shipment. Bulb large, flattened, yet 

 quite thick; skin deep purple-red; flesh purplish white, 

 moderately flne grained and rather strong flavored. 

 Very productive, the best keeper and one of the 

 most popular for general cultivation. The variety does 

 best on rich, moderately dry soil but on low muck land 

 it is more apt to form large necks than the Danvers, 

 There is no better sort for poor and dry soils. Pkt. 5c; 

 Oz. 30c; 3 Oz. 35c; h Lb. 60c; Lb. $3.00 



Large Red Wethersfield 



