8 
COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION 
onion production on the market, is as to whether all conditions are fovor- 
able to get a maximum crop at a maximum price and at a minimum cost 
of production. It must be remembered that the cost of production will not 
vary to any considerable extent. If the land is situated a long distance 
from railroad, the item of hauling will very materially increase, or if bad 
roads are to be contended with. All the factors as to adaptability of soil 
and availability of stable compost, length of season, seed, and variety must 
be considered and, while we believe that for the man with all conditions 
favorable the onion crop has great possibilities, we would not recommend 
anyone to attempt the culture of this crop without carefully considering 
all sides of the question. 
SEED PRODUCTION 
The production of seed for home use and for market is (becoming 
more and more of a business each year. The first essential is to decide 
as to the variety most in demand. In the western slope districts the Yellow 
Globe Danvers, or a type of that iveriety, is grown more than any other, al¬ 
though Red Globe, White Globe and Prize Taker are grown to some extent. 
In the Greeley district, the varieties are divided about equally between Yel¬ 
low Globe Danvers, Red Globe Danvers, with White Globe, Prze Taker, 
and Red Weathersfield grown to some extent. In the fall when the onions 
are harvested, the best bulbs are carefully selected from the field. In mak¬ 
ing this selection, the first essential is to have in mind the most desirable 
type of that variety; then the selecting must be done by someone who will 
discard everything which does not conform to the desired type. These 
bulbs are usually placed in the crates and stored in a cool onion cellar. 
These should be kept as cool and dry as possible till the following spring. 
Eariy in the spring the ground is prepared and these bulbs set in the field 
a few inches apart in the row with rows from 2^2 to 3 feet apart. About 
90 sacks of medium sized bulbs are required to set an acre. In setting the 
trenches are made four or five inches deep and the bulbs placed by hand 
with the stem ends up, then the soil is replaced over the bulbs. These bulbs 
send up a stem 2 l / 2 to 3 feet high and will blossom in July. As the seed 
matures the seed stalk is cut by hand and placed on canvas to dry. After 
the seed head is sufficiently dry to thresh, the seed are separated from the 
fiber either by threshing or with the flail and the seed passed through a fan¬ 
ning mill to remove the chaff and light, worthless seed. The onion seed in¬ 
dustry in Colorado gives promise of becoming of considerable importance. 
Up to the present time the seed growers of Colorado have received consid¬ 
erably more for their produce than the price obtained by the seedmein of the 
cast and our growers have learned that even while the seed costs twice as 
much, it is more profitable than that procured elsewhere. A rigid selection is 
necessary if we are to keep up the type and yield of our bulbs. Dishonest seed 
growers who plant culls will produce as good looking seed as those from 
selected bulbs, but the inherence is necessarily bad and cannot result other 
than in an un-uniform type of onion and many scullions. After the seed are 
taken from the field, the plants will produce seed stems the second year. 
Growers tell us that these second year seed are not as desirable as those 
produced from the plants the first year. 
STORAGE ONIONS 
The onion is rather difficult to store satisfactorily. There is always a 
tendency for the bulbs to start growth, which spoils them for market pur¬ 
poses. The storage house must be frost proof and as nearly dry as possible. 
To accomplish this end, it is usually necessary to build more nearly above 
ground than for the ordinary potato cellar. Great care must be exercised in 
providing for ventilation. Onions are better stored in crates or in racks in 
the storage house. If the onion can be kept dry and at near a freezing 
point, it may be carried till February or March when the market is in good 
condition. 
