MARKETING ONIONS 
23 
the percentage is much higher. Another problem is that of taking 
care of the onions while in storage to prevent overheating and the 
development of disease. The labor costs of storing onions, sorting, 
grading, and removing them from storage are considerable. Taking 
one year with another, very few farmers have found it advantageous 
to store onions either in their own warehouses or in commercial 
storages. There is no doubt, however, that in some years storage 
has been very profitable. 
It is difficult to reckon the total cost of storage, including shrink- 
age, handling, and insurance. In 1914 it was estimated at from 30 
to 40 cents per 100 pounds. The cost is probably twice that at the 
present time. Even 1 cent a pound does not seem an exorbitant price 
Fig. 12. — Interior of onion-storage house 
for the consumer to pay for the storage of his onions, although it is 
possible that more than this is added by storage to the retail price. 
The element of price risk in stored onions is great, however, and 
numerous dealers have lost heavily in their failure to guess correctly 
the trend of the market. To offset this, some of them have found the 
storage of onions very profitable in years when a late or short spring 
crop followed upon a comparatively short main crop. Taking one 
year with another, it is apparent that the risks and losses of winter 
storage are such that only a large operator or a grower with unusual 
financial resources should undertake them. 
MIDWINTER HOLDINGS 
A country-wide canvass of onion stocks on hand January 1 was 
made by the Department of Agriculture in the war years 1917 and 
