1882 .j 
AMERICAS AGRICULTURIST. 
Batten (plain or molded) all joints of planking. 
Window casings to be set on over planking, all 
properly flashed over with tin. Frame the porch as 
shown in figs. 1 and 5.—Fitch floor to front. Lay 
floors, and ceil overhead. Case the corners to 
form a column. With saw and augur form the 
Soffit finish as shown. The verge boards are formed 
in like manner, or to suit taste of builder or owner. 
While the house can be built very cheaply by 
using rough materials, a little extra cost will dress 
and paint all the exterior to suit the taste, or de¬ 
sire, or means of the owner. It is estimated, after 
lining the inside with tarred or resin-sized paper, 
to furr off with lx2-inch strips, and lath and 
plaster. Doors paneled. Eight-light windows. Gen¬ 
erally plain finish throughout. The several plans, 
figs. 2 and 3, show the rooms and other interior 
arrangements. 
Estimate of Materials and Cost. 
Timber and Lumber; 12 foundation posts, fij feet, 
8x8 inch ; boards for foundation, 500 feet ; ten pieces 10 
feet, 2x8-inch; eighteen pieces 16 feet, 8x8-inch; twenty- 
eight pieces 14 feet, 2x8-inch ; eight pieces 12 feet, 2x8- 
inch; seventy-four pieces 10-feet, 2x4-inch; ten pieces 
12 feet, 2x4-inch ; thirty pieces 18 feet, 2x4-inch ; one 
hundred and sixty pieces 16 feet, 2x8-inch. Roof boards 
500 feet. Battens 2 inches wide (3,000 feet length), 500 
^"1 4« aL fnMHi m 4 A4*.. . 1. „ 1 „ _ 
icci. i-juiiu mmug, huu jwet uoaru measure. 
Total 7,989 feet @ $15. per M .$119 83 
1,000 feet flooring @$ls. per M.' ]8 00 
7,000 shingles at $3.50 per M.. 24 50 
200 yards plastering @ 20c. 40 00 
10 doors aDd frames @ $4. 40 00 
7 windows and frames @ $4 . 28 00 
Base, pantry, closets, etc. 15 00 
Stairs, $8; chimney $15 . 23 00 
2 coats paint, $60; 3 kegs nails, $12. 72 00 
Labor: Excavation and foundation, $15; labor 
on frame, $30 ; laying floors, $6 ; shingling 
roof, $12 ; setting doors and windows, $20. 83 00 
Sundries, say. 10 00 
Total estimated cost.$473 33 
A Dish of Onions. 
Seth Twiggs came home from Shadtown the 
other day, a good deal elated, with the prospect of 
growing onions as a special crop for the New York 
market. “There must be money in it, ’Square 
Bunker. Ye see, there was a chap at the wharf in 
his vessel jest over from the Islaud, peddling out 
the onions and other truck to the Shadtown gro¬ 
cers. He was selliug the Danver’s Yellows at 
$1.00 a bushel, the Wethersfield Reds at 90 cents, 
and the small ones for pickling at 60 cents a bushel; 
and they went off like hot cakes. The man said 
he had raised a thousand bushels on his own land 
—less than two acres, and sold them for a thousand 
dollars.” 
Jake Frink said, “I don’t believe any such stuff 
as that, Seth. Ye see, I’ve tried time and agin to 
raise onions, and never could make ’em pay. 
Sometimes it was tew dry, and agin it was tew wet, 
and then the weeds got the start, and ’fore I catched 
up it was September, and the dumed things wau’t 
big enuff for pick-els. And then when I did raise 
ennything, everybody had ’em, and onions was a 
drug in the market. It won’t pay. Depend on’t.” 
“That’s so,” said Jotham Sparrowgrass. “ They 
must have changed a wonderful sight, ef they’ve 
larned to raise onions over on the Island. Sense I 
left—which, let’s see, must be hard on upon thirty 
year or more—Nat Tuthill tried it, and Ben Miller, 
and Zophar Mills, and the most I ever heerd of 
them gittin’ was three hundred bushels to the acre, 
and I never believed they raised that.” 
The high price of onions this year has made a 
good deal of talk in Hookertown and vicinity, and 
the matter has been discussed at the club with a 
good deal of interest. At a recent meeting David 
Shermau was in from Millport, and read a state¬ 
ment of the cost of raising 51 acres of onions on 
his farm as follow's :—“N. Y. manure, $157.50 ; rent 
of dock, $3; carting, $20 ; spreading, $5 ; plowing, 
$22 ; harrowing and sowing, $27.66 ; seed at $10 a 
pound, $240; cultivating in May, $12.67; in June, 
$56.94; in July, $15.52; August, $22.50 ; September, 
$79.50 ; October, $60.50; rent of store room, $30 ; 
cutting and taking to market, estimated, $186.36; 
interest on land, $99; overseeing work, $100; whole 
amount of expenses, $1,138.15. As carted into the 
barn with the tops, he had 1,553 barrels, estimated 
to shrink in topping less than one-tenth. From the 
same field he had sold the two previous years 1,169 
bbls., and 1,171 bbls.” Allowing for shrinkage 
there would be about 1,400 bbls. on the 51 acres, 
worth about $2.50 per bbl., or $3,500. Deduct cost 
of raising, $1,138, it would leave $2,362 as the profit 
upon the crop. The yield per acre is about 254 
bbls., or 635 bushels, allowing 2i bushels to the 
bbl. The rvofit per acre is about $429. 
In looking over the items of expenses, we meet 
first the bill for New York manure, $157, or about 
$30 per acre. This seems quite moderate consider¬ 
ing the large yield. But it is to be taken into the 
account that this plot of land had been highly 
manured and borne heavy crops for years in suc¬ 
cession. The only security for profitable crops is 
in a liberal supply of fertilizers. It is not uncom¬ 
mon to apply two hundred bushels of Canada Ashes 
per acre of land when it is first cropped with onions, 
in addition to the stable manure. These ashes 
have been partially leeched and are sold at tide¬ 
water from crfnal boats, from 14 to 17 cents a 
bushel, according to their distance from New York. 
This would make an item of thirty dollars or more per 
acre at the outset for profitable onion culture. But 
such a dressing lasts for many years. Mr. Sher¬ 
man explained that almost all the manure brought 
to Millport was stable manure, and came from one 
party, who made a business of shipping manure. 
Of course this manure is from grain-fed animals, 
and is of the best quality. It costs, delivered on 
the dock, near the farms, 45 cents per dump of seven 
bushels. The freight paid by the shipper is 20 cts. 
a dump load to Millport. The cost per cord to the 
farmer at the dock is about $8.25 cts. per cord of 
128 bushels, which is reasonable considering the 
quality. Street manure is used in small quantity 
as yet, and its future use will depend upon the re- 
97 
suits. The tise of New York stable manure in this 
vicinity is of quite recent origin, and in the five or 
six years since the farmers began to invest in it, it 
has made a great difference in the amount of pro¬ 
duce sent to market, and is likely to make still 
more, as the farmers increase the quantity and 
quality of the fertilizers applied to the soil. With-, 
out capital to invest in fertilizers, it is of no use to 
undertake onion culture. 
Another point in these items of expenses of 
cultivation is the thoroughness of the weeding of 
the crop in May, June, July, and August. It 
amounts to $107.63, principally the labor of boys, 
who make good wages in the.onion field. As soon 
as the onion tops are enough in sight to mark the 
rows, the push hoe, or onion weeder, is started, and 
every weed that is not destroyed by the tools is 
pulled with the fingers. Absolute cleanliuess is in¬ 
dispensable to success in this crop. Three or four 
days neglect in the early part of the season 
is often fatal; the weeds grow so fast, and the 
richer the soil, and the more favorable the season, 
the greater is the peril of the onion crop. Those 
who propose to undertake this crop should under¬ 
stand at the outset that strict attention during the 
whole period of cultivation is imperative. The 
weeds are robbers, and must be exterminated with¬ 
out regard to cost. No crop pays better for early 
and constant attention. Absolute cleanliness will 
soon reduce the weed crop so as to make it easily 
manageable. If land, proposed for this crop, is 
foul with wild carrot, charlock, or other weeds, It 
will save much labor to keep it fallow one seasou 
and clean it by stirring the soil as often as weeds 
appear, with the harrow or cultivator. One of the 
chief advantages of keeping ground in this crop 
for a series of years is the freedom from weeds, 
which is secured by thorough cultivation. The 
labor of cultivation is also reduced by the use of 
manures free from the seeds of grasses and weeds. 
The New York stable manure generally undergoes 
fermentation enough to destroy all vegetable life. 
Marine manures, rock-weed, kelp, and the mosses 
are quite free from weed 6eed, and are good fertil¬ 
izers for this crop. Cultivators back from the shore, 
make considerable use of salt, applying it at the 
rate of three or four barrels to the acr». This will 
destroy the seeds of many weeds, and of course 
should not be applied in the season of onion growth. 
The next thing that strikes us in this exhibit o<f 
cost of crop, is the large cost of onion seed—$240 
for 24 lbs.—or ten dollars a pound. This is an ex¬ 
ceptional price, on account of the short crop of 
the previous year. Good seed can generally be had 
at about one-third of this price. For one engaged 
in this business, with the convenience for selecting 
the bulbs for growing seed under his own super¬ 
vision, it is much the cheapest to grow his own 
seed, and generally the safest. Failing in this, 
procure seed of some reliable cultivator who can 
vouch for the article he sells. Good 6eed is cheap 
at almost any price, as successful onion growers 
will tell you. 
This vegetable is a little fastidious about its soil, 
and feeding. Mechanical condition goes for much 
if you want maximum crops. A heavy clay soil 
will not answer at all. The plant starts from small 
seed, and makes a bulb of two to four inches in 
diameter by the last of August. It wants an early 
start, and to this end should have a well drained 
sandy loam that can be worked the last of March. 
The sooner after April 1st, in this latitude, the seed 
is in the better. The seed should be rolled or 
trodden with the food at planting, quite hard. The 
delay of sowing is dangerous. The land should 
be as nearly level as possible to prevent ail wash¬ 
ing, and to facilitate the labor of cleaning the crop 
of weeds.—It also must be cleared of small stones, 
to reduce the labor bills to the minimum. Much 
labor has to be expended every spring iu raking a 
coarse, gravelly soil to get it ready for the seed. In 
a smooth, sandy loam, such as is often found in 
our river bottoms, it is easy to sow the seed in 
straight lines, and most of the cultivation can he 
done with the tools specially adapted to this crop. 
We have then, in short, as a recipe for this dish of 
onions, three parts good stable manure, and plenty 
