28 



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



o 



NION. 



French, Ognon. 



German, Ztviebel. 



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. 



HOW TO RAISE ONIONS 



This is a question we are asked many times every year, and which we will try to answer from our 

 experience in raising many thousands of bushels. 



vary with the soil, the seed used, and the kind of onions 

 desired. Thin seeding gives much larger onions than thick. 

 Four or five pounds 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 hand roller 

 immediately after the seed is planted. 



A good crop of onions can be 

 grown on any soil which will pro- 

 duce a full crop of corn, imless it 

 be a stiff clay, very hght sand or 

 gravel, or certain varieties of muck or swamp lands, on wliich 

 they invariably grow necky and cannot be made to ripen down 

 well, while other muck soils give immense crops of the finest 

 quality. The difference is largely due to the drainage. 3Iuck 

 land must be sweet and well drained, in order to raise good 

 onions; ordinary swamp land ^^^ll not do, and even in the best 

 of muck, the first crop is apt to be soft and necky. We pre- 

 fer a rich, sandy loam, with a hght mixture of clay. This is 

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

 clean of weeds and well manured for two years previous, 

 because if a sufficient quantity of 

 manure to raise an ordinarj' soil to a 

 proper degree of fertility is applied at 

 once, it is likely to make the onions 

 soft. 



CULTIVATION. 



MANURING 



There is 

 no crop 

 where a 

 liberal 



use of manure is more essential than 

 in this. Even on the deep, black 

 muck onion lands of the Western 

 Reserve, manure is essential to a 

 good crop, and not only is the quan- 

 tity but the quality of the manure 

 used, of the greatest importance. If 

 it is too rank it is quite sure to make 

 soft onions, with many scallions. It 

 should be well fermented and shov- 

 eled over at least twice during the 

 previous summer to kill weed seeds. 

 Of the commercial manures, we pre- 

 fer fine ground bone to any other, 

 but large crops are raised by the use 

 of superphosphates. 



PREPARATION 



Give the onions the first hoeing, 

 just skimming the ground be- 

 tween the rows, as soon as they 

 can be seen the length of the row. 

 The blade of the hoe we use for this purpose is eight inches 

 long and one and one-half broad, with a long, crooked shank, 

 set in a handle five feet long. This hoe allows the earth to 

 pass over the blade without moving 

 it out of its place. Hoe again in a 

 few days, this time close up to the 

 plants, after -which weeding must be 

 continued. This operation requires 

 to be carefully and thoroughly done. 

 The weeder must work on his knees 

 astride of the row, stirring the earth 

 around the plants, in order to destroy 

 any weeds tnat have just started. In 

 ten days or two weeks they will re- 

 quire another hoeing and weeding 

 sunilar 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. 



Remove 

 all refuse 

 of previ- 

 ous crops 

 in time to complete the work before 

 the ground freezes up, and spread 

 the composted manure evenly, at 

 the rate of about fifty cai't loads to 

 the acre. This should fij-st be culti- 

 vated in, and then the ground 

 ploughed a moderate depth, taking 

 a narrow furrow, in order to thor- 

 oughly mix the manure -nith the 

 soil. Carefully avoid tramping on 

 the ground during the winter. Culti- 

 vate or thoroughly drag the soil with 

 a heavy harrow as early in the 

 spring as it can be worked, and 



then, in the opposite direction, with a No. i, Extra Early Red; No. 2, Large Red 

 light one, after which the entire sur- wethersfield; No 3, Yellow Danvers; No. 4. 



KEEPING ONIONS 

 THROUGH WINTER. 



face should be raked with steel ,,-. .^ n j. 1 m wn.-^ o-i . • vt„ a 



hand rakes. It is impossible to ^hite Portugal; No. 5. White Silverskin; No. 6 



cultivate the crop economically un- White Globe. 

 less the rows are perfectly straight; 



to secure tliis, stretcli 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 per- 

 fectly straight mark made bj' the line. Continue to work 

 around this line until on the tliird 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 tlian 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. 



the crop should be gathered by pull- 

 ing four rows and laying them in a 

 single one, the tops all one way, and 

 then returning on the next four, 

 forming a similar row, but with the 

 tops in the opposite direction; laying 

 the tops in this way greatly facilitates 

 the "topping." If the weathei- is 

 fine they will need no attention while 

 curing, but if it is not they will need 

 to be stirred by simply moving them 

 slightlv along the row. Cut off the 

 tops when perfectly drj', about half 

 an inch from the bulb, and throw 

 each pair of rows together, forming 

 windrows about nine feet apart. 

 After a few days more of bright 

 weather they will be fit to store. 



Use good 

 ground, 

 prepared 

 as above 

 and sow 



FOR PICKLES. 

 OR SETS 



SOWING THE. 

 SEED 



This should be done as soon as 

 the ground can be gotten i-eady, 

 and can be done best by a hand 

 seed drill. This should be care- 

 fully adjusted (testing it by run- 

 ning it over a barn fioor). to sow the desired quantity of 

 sted and about one-half inch deep. The quantity needed will 



the seed verj- thick in broad drills 

 forty to sixty pounds per acre. 



The essentials for the preserva- 

 tion of onions are drjTiess. 

 thorough ventilation, coolness and 

 freedom from frost, or if frozen 

 they must not be permitted to 

 thaw and freeze again. 

 One of the most popular methods of keeping onions is to 

 spread straw to the depth of eighteen inches upon the barn 

 floor, scaffold, or garret; upon this spread the onions six to 

 ten inches deep, and cover with two feet of straw. If in good 

 condition and sufficient depth of covering is used, they will 

 keep in fine condition till May. 



A cool, dry cellar of some out -building, barn, or carriage- 

 house, will be found excellent for keeping onions, if it has 

 windows for ventilation. The cellar of a dwelling house is 

 usually too warm. They should be spread on scaffolds, about 

 SIX inches deep, with room enough between the boards for 

 the air to circulate. On approach of cold weather close the 

 doors and windows, and keep the temperature just above the 

 freezing point. With proper care they can be kept from 

 freezing, and will come out nice and sound in the spring. 



