ONION GROWING IN COLORADO 5 
there is a chance for a mistake in variety, which may make a serious dif¬ 
ference in the yield or the value of the crop. It is without a doubt cheaper, 
so far as cost of seed is concerned to buy seed from seedmen than to 
produce it on a small scale for home use, but when all things are considered, 
it is doubtful if. any grower of onions can afford to take chances in buying 
seed unless he is able to buy from some neighbor who is doing good work 
in that line. 
GETTING A STAND 
In the northern Colorado districts there is seldom any trouble in get¬ 
ting the. onions to germinate and make a good stand from the moisture 
already in the soil. Because of this, most of the growers have used the 
flooding system rather than the furrow irrigation system, and in this case it 
would be difficult to irrigate the onions up. In the west slope districts 
and in the Arkansas Valley districts there is more danger of drying weather 
in early spring; consequently it is not safe to depend on getting a stand 
from the moisture in the soil. Most growers plan to irrigate shortly after 
the seed are sown. By running a small quantity of water in each of the 
furrows and leaving it in a sufficient length of time, the ground may be 
sufficiently moistened to bring up the seed without flooding or packing 
the surface. This brings a very even percentage of germination and stand. 
CULTIVATION 
As soon as the young plants are large enough to be seen in the rows, 
cultivation is begun. This is begun almost entirely with the hand wheel 
hoes. Sballow, frequent cultivation is essential to success. The oftener 
this is done the better. Three or four times is probably the minimum num¬ 
ber for hoeing. Weeding is one of the expensive operations, but must 
be attended to, as it is impossible with tools to keep the weeds entirely 
out of the rows. If the hoeiing is done early and thoroughly done, it will 
very materially decrease the labor of weeding. The ditch system of irriga¬ 
tion also tends to cut dowm the labor of weeding, as there is less tendency 
for the weed seed to germinate in the row than when flooding is done. 
IRRIGATION 
The number of irrigations must depend entirely oni the type of soil, 
location, and the season. At Greeley, irrigation in the early part of the 
season is usually avoided. One of the most successful growers there begins 
in the latter part of June or early July and irrigates by flooding about once 
a week, probably making seven or eight applications. In the west slope 
districts, the irrigation! is begun soon after the seed are sown and continued 
whenever necessary until early in August, when no more water is applied, so 
as to allow the onions to mature. There is undoubtedly a tendency among 
growers to over-irrigate. The aim should be to 'keep the ground in such 
a condition as to promote the most rapid growth during the early part 
of the season. Too much water tends to produce a heavy top and ulti¬ 
mately to make what is known as a thick-neck or a scullion. These thick 
neck onions are always (present to a greater or less extent and any factor 
that tends to produce them should be avoided, as they are absolute waste. 
After the onion is two-thirds grown, it is rooted sufficiently so that even 
if the top soil is quite dry it will still come to full maturity and produce 
an onion of better shape and keeping quality than if more water is given. 
'The great difficulty in all Colorado onion growing districts is to secure 
the required size and still have the onion mature early. Late maturing 
onions are in more or less danger from freezing, land are more difficult 
to handle in harvesting and marketing. 
We have had many inquiries as to the feasibility of rolling or break¬ 
ing over the tops of the onions in the latter part of the season to cause 
them to ripen off. Experiments have not shown that this practice is nec¬ 
essary or particularly beneficial. If the weather is such as to allow the 
onion to mature normally, the top should stop growth early in August and 
