101-5. 
'.THIS Nl£W*YORKER 
439 
S oli ,.—A deep 
suited for the 
as it is for most 
character of soil 
sential to success, 
sandy loam is best 
growing of this crop, 
other crops, yet this 
is not absolutely es- 
as onion sets can be 
grown on any kind of soil that is suita¬ 
ble for general truck farming with suc¬ 
cess. provided it is reasonably free from 
weeds, and in a fair condition of tillage. 
Deep plowing is not necessary, five to 
six inches deep being sufficient, but the 
pulverizing and leveling of the soil 
should be quite thorough. When the soil 
is inclined to be lumpy and difficult to 
reduce to a well-pulverized condition, a 
wooden drag or leveler and smoother 
will be indispensable, and should he run 
over the ground until it is reduced to a 
thoroughly fine condition. The seed 
should be sown as early in the Spring as 
the soil is in good condition for work¬ 
ing. Only moderately rich soil should be 
used for the growing of onion sets, as 
they will have a tendency to grow too 
large in strong soils, particularly if the 
season's rainfall should he abundant. 
Sowing. —In some sections of the 
country the seed is sown in drills seven 
to nine inches apart, which is almost too 
close for the expeditious use of the wheel 
hoe, making much hand weeding and 
hoeing necessary. I have always pre¬ 
ferred the rows 14 to 10 inches apart. 
While it is true the yield per acre is not 
quite as heavy when sown at the greater 
width as when sown at the lesser, the 
labor of cultivation and weeding is re¬ 
duced correspondingly, and the profits 
for a given area are about as great as 
when the rows are so close together. 
Whatever the width between the rows, 
the seed should be sown quite thickly 
in the rows, as it is the crowding of a 
great many plants together in a small 
space that prevents them from developing 
into large bulbs. The amount of seed 
sown per acre varies with the different 
localities, ranging as low as 25 pounds in 
New Jersey to as high as 100 pounds or 
over in Illinois, the quantity of seed used 
per acre depending much on the width 
between the rows and the grade of sets 
grown. When the rows are not over 10 
inches apart 70 to 80 pounds per acre 
will be. sufficient and 50 to 00 pounds will 
be sufficient when the rows are 14 inches 
apart. As mentioned before, the seed 
should be sown ns early in Spring as the 
soil can be put in good condition ; early- 
sown seed will insure a better and larger 
crop than late seeding, and besides the 
young plants get a good start and be¬ 
come well established before the weeds 
get under way. 
Seeding may be done by hand, or with 
the hand drill, and be sure to sow it 
quite thickly in the row. As onion sets 
are grown mainly for the production of 
larger bulbs the following season, it is 
important that the sets be not too large; 
a half-inch in diameter and under- will 
seldom run to seed, and if the soil is in 
a proper state of fertility the greater ma¬ 
jority will make fine marketable bulbs 
for use in the dry state, while those 
much over a half-inch in diameter will 
mostly shoot to seed, and will have to 
he used in the green state to prevent 
loss. 
Cultivation. —Onion seed germinates 
quickly and the young plants (under 
favorable conditions) will 1 m* up high 
enough to make the rows plainly distin¬ 
guishable in eight to 10 days from the 
date of sowing the seed, when cultivation 
should immediately begin, and continue 
as often as once a week (and offcener if 
heavy rains occur) during the growing 
season, or to within a short time before 
harvest time. This will be indicated by 
the turning yellow of the tips of the 
leaves, when cultivation should be dis¬ 
continued. Hand weeding will have to 
be done at least twice, and if the soil 
is very weedy a third and perhaps the 
fourth weeding will be required. Never 
allow the weeds to got the upper hand; 
if this occurs the crop will soon be 
brought to a condition bordering on 
ruination. Success depends on about four 
important factors, suitable soil, its 
proper preparation for the seed, good seed 
and clean cultivation. All of these are 
necessary and of equal importance to 
the successful growing of this crop. 
Harvesting and Curing. —Harvest¬ 
ing should not begin until the sets be¬ 
come quite ripe. At this time some 
method of loosening the sets from the soil 
will have to be adopted. This can be ac¬ 
complished with wide forks having 10 or 
12 tines, or with a cutter attached to a 
wheel-hoe. After the sets are loosened 
from the soil, they are then pulled up 
by hand and the tops twisted off, the 
fine soil sifted out of them and the bulbs 
put in trays to dry. These trays should 
be not over three inches deep, and may 
be any size convenient to handle. Four 
or five feet square is perhaps the most 
convenient size, but whatever trays are 
needed should all be of the same di¬ 
mensions. The bottoms should be open 
sufficiently to allow free circulation of 
air upward through the bulbs. Narrow 
lath or galvanized wire screen may be 
used for the bottoms, preferably the lat¬ 
ter, as it admits of a freer circulation 
of air. As the trays are filled they 
should be piled one upon another, with 
blocks of wood about four inches thick 
between them, one at each corner of the 
tray. This will admit of a free circula¬ 
tion of air all around the sets, and 
facilitate their rapid drying, which is 
important. The trays may be piled up 
out in the field and protected from sun 
and rain by temporary roof over them, 
or removed to a nearby open shed, 
previously provided for the purpose. 
Storing. —After the sets have become 
thoroughly cured they should be run 
through a fanning mill to blow the chaff 
out of them, when they are run through 
a grading screen and may then be placed 
in the drying trays and removed to the 
storage house, piling the trays one upon 
another, same as was done during the 
drying period. If a satisfactory price 
can be obtained for them in the late Fall 
before freezing weather sets in, Winter 
quarters will not have to be provided, 
which will lessen the expense of handl¬ 
ing the crop somewhat, and at the same 
time eliminate worry over the danger of 
loss from freezing or other mishaps that 
may befall them during the Winter. If 
it seems desirable or is necessary to store 
the bulbs during the Winter, they should 
be kept in a temperature that is just 
above the freezing point, and should 
never be handled any more than is abso¬ 
lutely necessary. On account of the great 
percentage of water in the onions they 
are continually giving off more or less 
moisture, and therefore should never be 
stored in very great bulk, or they are 
liable to become damp and start growth. 
There are various packages used for 
shipping them to market, burlap bags, 
barrels and bushel crates. The latter 
is preferable, as it admits of better cir¬ 
culation of air around and through them, 
and at the same time protects the bulbs 
from damage by bruising while in 
transit. 
Yellow Strasburg (or Dutch) onion is 
considered one of the very best yellow 
onions grown, and for growing sets, more 
seed of this variety is sown than any 
other. It is one of the best Winter 
keepers. k. 
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CORN 
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(In writing mention this Paper.) 
The Standard of Value and Quality 
THE NATIONAL VERDICT 
To the best of our knowledge and belief, 
the Paige in actual bona fide sales 
led every other American-made motor 
car in each and every Automobile 
Show held in this country this winter. 
A million dollars worth of Paiges were 
sold at the New York and Chicago 
Shows.. Philadelphia, Detroit, Min¬ 
neapolis, Kansas City added another 
million. 
Sales figures are not necessarily con¬ 
clusive. But this overwhelming en¬ 
dorsement and victory over every 
other car made in America and ex¬ 
hibited side-by-side with the Paige, 
tell the story of Paige Leadership 
more convincingly than we can tell it. 
A REASON 
The millions of intelligent judges of motor car 
values who attend these Automobile Shows 
COMPARED Paige cars with ALL OTHER 
CARS. 
That’s all we ask you to do. 
Below you will find the specifications of the 
Paige Glenwood “Four 36”. COMPARE the 
Glenwood feature for feature, part for part, 
dollar for dollar with any other four-cylinder 
car in the world. And then remember the 
new Paige Price is $1075. 
The Paige Fairfield “Six-46”, a big, roomy, 
powerful distinctive-looking “Six” has easily 
dominated the field of “Sixes” this season— 
because it offers vastly more and it costs less 
money—$1395. 
We can convince you only as we convinced the 
millions who have attended the Automobile 
Shows and gave the unanimous verdict to 
the Paige. That is by showing you these two 
record-breaking cars. Come and see them. 
Paige-Detroit Motor Car Co., 221 McKinstry Ave., Detroit, Mich. 
Four-cylinder long-stroke motor, 4 x S 
inches. Multiple disc clutch with cork 
inserts. Gray & Davis large unit elec¬ 
tric system, Bosch magneto, silent chain 
drive. Center control. Floating type 
rear axle. 116-inch wheel base. Tires 
34" x 4", non-skids on rear wheels. 
Equipment—Rain vision ventilating 
windshield; silk mohair top with en¬ 
velope ; speedometer; one extra de¬ 
mountable rim; robe rail; license bracket; 
horn; pump; jack; tools and tire repair 
outfit. Trimmings black and nickel. 
