42 



FERRY & GO'S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 



ONION 



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 product 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. The seed we offer is the best 

 obtainable. Although onions are often raised from sets and from division, by far the best and cheaj^est mode of production 

 is from seed. The facility ivith which seed is sown 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 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. 



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 I'ate 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 cul- 

 tivator 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 rake. 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 



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 per- 

 fectly 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 frozen, 

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

 17 * 17 1 D J Although the first of the red sorts to ripen, the bulbs are firm and keep remarkably well. A medium 

 lliXtra. HiSirly tved sized, flat variety, an abundant producer and very uniform in shape and size. Skin uniformly rich 

 purplish red; moderately strong flavored and comes into use 

 a week or ten days earlier than the Large Red AVethersfield 



line. Continue until the marker has gone around this line three 

 times and 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 pre- 

 vent 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 made 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 immediately 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 pjlants, 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, according 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 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 winter. 



Very desirable for early market use. 

 2 Oz. 35c; Va Lb. 60c; Lb. $1.75 



Pkt. 5c; Oz. 20c: 



Extra Early Red 



Large Red Wethersfield variety and a favorite 

 onion in the east, where immense crops are growTi for ship- 

 ment. Bulb large, flattened yet quite thick. Skin deep 

 purplish red; flesh purplish w^hite, moderately fine 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. 20c; 2 Oz. 35c; 1/4 Lb. 60c; Lb. $1.75 



Large Red Wethersfield 



