ONION GROWING FROM SETS. 



33 



regularly, and all inferior ones discarded. These 

 bunches usually bring about twenty-five cents each. 

 At this price the crop is very profitable. 



There are several varieties which are recommended 

 for forcing. With us, Sion House has proved most sat- 

 isfactory. The plant is of medium size, and very pro- 

 lific. The pods are uniformly of good size, straight and 

 regular, therefore make neat appearing bunches. ( See 

 cut.) 



Green Flageolet has straight, handsome pods, but is 

 neither so early nor as prolific as Sion House. 



Black Wax is good if not to be sold in bunches. The 

 pods, while of beautiful color, are so uneven in size and 

 so irregular that it is impossible to tie them neatly. 



To summarize : the requisites for success in growing 

 beans under glass are rich soil, an abundance of light 

 and air, good bottom heat, warm, moist atmosphere, 

 care in maintaining uniform conditions, selection of the 

 best varieties, and neatness in preparing the product for 

 market. With these precautions, forcing beans for the 

 winter market will prove both pleasant and profitable. 



Coriu-n Unh'cTsily. W. M. MuNSON. 



ONION GROWING FROM SETS. 



AN OHIO EXPERIENCE. 



BOUT three years ago I became 

 very much interested in raising 

 onions from sets, thinking they 

 could be grown in connection 

 with strawberries at small cost. 

 As I plant thirty or forty varie- 

 ties of the latter and always leave 

 eight feet of vacant ground be- 

 tween them, and four feet between the rows every- 

 where, it occurred to me that this ground that was then 

 idle during that part of the year when the onion makes 

 its growth, might just as well produce onions. Of 

 course the work would have to be done by hand, but 

 onions are always raised in that way. And to offset this 

 increased expense, I could use the twelve-foot space 

 that had to be left for the horse to turn on. Having 

 settled the matter so far, I wanted to select the best 

 variety to raise under the circumstances. I was not 

 well pleased with the old-fashioned top onion, because it 

 is not so fine-looking and salable as the Yellow Danvers. 

 This is the only objection to it, and if it were grown for 

 home use would have but little weight. 



The potato onion would answer my purpose per- 

 fectly, but the seed is worth from two to eight dollars 

 per bushel in the spring, and a bushel plants but a small 

 area. I knew a man to plant seventy-five bushels on an 

 acre. This variety is rather hard to keep over winter. 



If the cellar is too warm it will sprout. For home use 

 it is one of the best, as the small ones can be planted 

 and the large ones used. The quality is excellent, and 

 if one has a surplus in the spring he can readily sell 

 them at a good price. 



In buying onion sets in the spring, one gets many 

 that are too large, and if more than half an inch in di- 

 ameter they are apt to run up to seed. Besides this, 

 they are commonly mixed. I concluded to raise sets for 

 my own use, and endeavored to get the best information 

 obtainable about growing them. Some advised to sow 

 the seed on poor ground, some on rich. One said sow 

 early ; another late. I tried various ways, and am 

 satisfied that to sow early, on rich soil, and not less 

 than half a pound of seed to the square rod, is the cor- 

 rect method. 



I raised a quantity of very fine sets from Yellow Dan- 

 vers and Wethersfield seed, and succeeded in wintering 

 them in perfect condition. The seed was grown in New 

 England and New York. Notwithstanding the sets were 

 small — half an inch or less — about ten per cent - of them 

 sent up seed stalks, and those that did not produced 

 onions inferior to those grown from some of the same 

 seed the year before. This reminds me that Landreth, 

 who raises more sets than any other firm I know of, 

 always claims that seed grown north of the latitude of 

 Philadelphia will not produce good sets. 



