UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1283 
Washington, D. C. T January 13, 1925 
THE MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF AMERICAN-GROWN BERMUDA 
ONIONS 
By W. Mackenzie Stevens, Formerly Associate Marketing Specialist, Bureau 
of Agricultural Economics l 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Extent of the onion industry. 1 
Commercial producing areas 3 
Varieties of Bermuda onions 5 
Seasonal production and shipments. 5 
Distribution of shipments 9 
Methods of sale 22 
Shippers' margins, transportation charges, 
and producers' receipts compared 25 
Page 
Bermuda onion prices from 1916 to 1923 29 
Factors influencing wholesale prices of 
Bermuda onions 37 
Conclusions 52 
United States grades for Bermuda onions 54 
EXTENT OF THE ONION INDUSTRY 
Onions are among the most widely grown staple vegetables 
produced in the United States. Forty of the forty-eight States 
ship them in carload quantities, and annual shipments total more 
than 20,000 cars. They are marketed during every month of the 
year. The early crop begins in March with the harvesting of 
Bermuda onions in certain hot irrigated sections close to the Mexican 
border. By the 1st of June shipments from other southern areas 
have attained considerable volume. This intermediate crop supplies 
the market for the remainder of the summer, with harvest becoming 
more and more general as the season advances. By fall, onions are 
supplied generally from the Northern States. Part of this late crop 
is placed in storage and supplies the country throughout the winter 
and until the early crop begins in the South. Table 1 and Figure 1 
show the relative importance and the shipping season of the leading 
onion -shipping States. 
! The writer isindebtedto Dr. A. E. Cance, of Massachusetts Agricultural College, and to F. W. Mally, 
county agricultural agent, Laredo, Tex., for many valuable suggestions and criticisms, and to Miss Mary 
B. Hall and Miss Lucy Watt for the tabulation of many of the figures used in the charts and tables shown 
in this bulletin . 
101360°— 25t 1 
