42 
D. M. FERRY & CO’S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 
ONION 
n ^ n - ?m°n culture, thorough preparation of the ground, careful sowing and the best of after culture, though essential for a 
full yield, will avail nothing unless seed of the best quality be used. Given the same care and conditions, the product from two 
lots of onion seed of the same variety but of different quality may be so unequal in the quantity of merchantable onions that it 
would be more profitable to use the good seed though it cost twenty times as much as the other. The seed we offer is the best 
obtainable. Although onions are often raised from sets and from division , by far the best and cheapest mode of production, 
is from seed. The facility with which seed is sown and the superior bulbs it produces , recommend ii for general use. 
HOW TO RAISE ONIONS 
THE SOIL. A crop of onions can be grown on any soil 
which will produce a full crop of corn, but on a stiff clay, very 
light sand or gravel, or on some muck or swamp lands, neither 
a large nor a very profitable crop can be grown. We prefer a 
rich loam with a slight mixture of clay. This is much better if 
it has been cultivated with hoed crops, kept clean from weeds 
and well manured for two years previous, because if a sufficient 
quantity of manure to raise an ordinary soil to a proper degree 
of fertility is applied at once, it is likely to make the onions soft. 
The same result will follow if we sow on rank mucky ground or 
on that which is too wet. 
MANURING. There is no crop in which a liberal use of 
manure is more essential than in this and it should be of the 
best quality, well fermented and shoveled over at least twice 
during the previous summer to kill weed seeds. If rank, fresh 
manure is used, it is liable to result in soft bulbs with many 
scallions. Of the commercial manures, any of the high grade, 
complete fertilizers are good for ordinary soils and even very 
rich soils are frequently greatly benefited by fine ground bone, 
and mucky ones by a liberal dressing of wood ashes. 
PREPARATION. Remove all refuse of previous crops in 
time to complete the work before the ground freezes up and 
spread the composted manure evenly at the rate of about fifty 
cart loads to the acre. This should first be cultivated in and 
then the ground ploughed a moderate depth, taking a narrow 
furrow in order to thoroughly mix the manure with the soil. 
Carefully avoid tramping on the ground during the winter. 
Cultivate or thoroughly stir the soil with a deep working cul¬ 
tivator or harrow as early in the spring as it can be worked and 
then in the opposite direction with a light one, after which the 
entire surface should be made fine and level with a smoothing 
harrow or hand rake. It is impossible to cultivate the crop 
economically unless the rows are perfectly straight; to secure 
this, stretch a line along one side, fourteen feet from the edge 
and make a distinct mark along it; then having made a wooden 
marker, something like a giant rake with five teeth about a foot 
long and standing fourteen inches apart, make four more marks 
by carefully drawing it with the outside tooth in and the head 
at right angles to the perfectly straight mark made by the 
line. Continue until the marker has gone around this line three 
times and you reach the side of the field where you began; 
measure fifteen feet two inches from the last row, stretch the 
line again and mark around in the same way. This is better 
than to stretch a line along one side as it is impossible to pre¬ 
vent the rows gradually becoming crooked and by this plan we 
straighten them after every third passage of the marker. 
SOWING THE SEED. This should be done as soon as the 
ground can be made ready and can be done best by a hand 
seed drill. This should be carefully adjusted to sow the desired 
quantity of seed about one-half inch deep. The quantity 
needed will vary with the soil, the seed used and the kind of 
onions desired. Thin seeding gives much larger onions than 
thick seeding. Four or five pounds per acre is the usual 
quantity needed to grow large onions. We use a drill with a 
roller attached, but if the drill has none, the ground should 
be well rolled with a light hand roller immediately after the 
seed is planted. 
CULTIVATION. Give the onions the first hoeing, just 
skimming the ground between the rows, as soon as they can be 
seen in the row. Hoe again in a few days, this time close up to 
the plants, after which weeding must be begun. This operation 
requires to be carefully and thoroughly done. The weeder 
must work on his knees astride the row, stirring the earth around 
the plants, in order to destroy any weeds that have just started. 
At this weeding or the next, according to the size of the plants, 
the rows should be thinned, leaving from eight to twelve plants 
to the foot. In ten days or two weeks they will require another 
hoeing and weeding similar to the last and two weeks later give 
them still another hoeing and if necessary another weeding. If 
the work has been thoroughly done at the proper time, the crop 
will not require further care until ready to gather. 
GATHERING. As soon as the tops die and fall, the bulbs 
should be gathered into windrows. If the weather is fine they 
will need no attention while curing, but if it is not they will 
need to be stirred by simply moving them slightly along the 
row. Cut off the tops when perfectly dry. about half an inch 
from the bulb and then after a few days of bright weather the 
onions will be fit to store for winter. 
It will not do to store onions in large piles or masses, particularly in warm weather, or if they are the least moist, but if per¬ 
fectly dry when gathered and they are spread not to exceed two feet in depth, they can be k**pt in fine condition till spring. Any 
arrangement will answer that will keep them dry and at a uniform temperature of about 32° Fr., or they may be kept frozen, 
care being taken not to disturb them. They should be thawed gradually. Repeated freezing and thawing will spoil them. 
r t r 1 p i Although the first of the red sorts to ripen, the bulbs are firm and keep remarkably well. A medium 
cxira H.ariy ixea sized, fiat variety, an abundant producer and very uniform in shape and size. Skin uniformly rich 
purplish red; moderately strong llavored and comes into use 
a week or ten days earlier than the Large Red Wethersfield. 
Very desirable for early market use. Pkt. 5c; Oz. 20c; 
2 Oz. 35c; Va Lb. 60c; Lb. $1.75 
Extra Early Rto 
Large Red Wethersfield 
onion in the east, lvhere immense crops are grown for ship¬ 
ment. Bulb large, flattened yet quite thick. Skin deep 
purplish red; flesh purplish white, moderately fine grained 
and rather strong flavored. Very product!ve. the best 
keeper and one of the most popular for general cultivation. 
The variety does best on rich, moderately dry soil, but on 
low muck land it is more apt to form large necks than the 
Danvers. There is no better sort for poor and dry soils, 
Pkt. 5c; Oz. 20c; 2 Oz. 35c; Va Lb. 60c; Lb. $1.75 
Large Red Wethersfield 
