The Only Bargain in Seeds Is in Quality 
ONION 
Plant Vz or.. to 100 feet of drill, three to four pounds per aere, except 
Sweet Spanish and like sorts 2 to 2y 2 . For sets, forty 
to eighty pounds per acre. 
f in onion culture thorough preparation of the ground, careful 
ing 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 it for gen¬ 
eral 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. I 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 ordi¬ 
nary 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. 
MAiyURING. There is no crop in which a liberal use of manure 
is more essential than in this, and it should be 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 bene¬ 
fited 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 twenty tons to the 
acre. This should first be disced 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. Disc thoroughly as early in the spring 
as it can be worked, after which the entire surface should be made 
fine and level with a smoothing harrow. It is impossible to cultivate 
the crop economically unless the rows are perfectly straight. 
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. 
Growers of large acreages here plant with the 4 row beet drills 
using special plates. This permits cultivating with 4 row cultivators. 
The drill should be carefully adjusted to sow the desired quantity 
of seed about one 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. Two to four pounds 
per acre is the usual quantity needed to grow large onions. Use a 
drill with a roller attached, but if the drill has none the ground 
should be well rolled with a light roller immediately after the seed 
is planted. 
CULTIVATION. As soon as the onions are large enough so that 
the rows can be seen begin cultivating very shallow and as close 
to the rows as possible without damaging the plants. Cultivate 
every week to ten days until the bulbs have started to develop. Hoe 
every week, removing all weeds and grass. Do not allow any weeds 
or grass to remain in the field. 
If under irrigation: Irrigate every week to 10 days until the 
crop is matured or up to about ten days before harvest. Here we 
irrigate 12 to 14 times and cultivate 10 to 12 times. 
GATHERING. As soon as the tops die in the fall the bulbs 
should be pulled and about four rows put together in each winrow. 
As soon as the tops are dried cut about one-half inch from the bulb 
with shears and put into field crates. Stack crates in piles of about 
one truck load each and protect top crates from weather. When 
thoroughly cured run over grader, sort out scallions and damaged 
bulbs and store in onion house. Stack so that the best of ventila¬ 
tion is assured. Keep dry and as near a uniform temperature just 
above 32 degrees as is possible. Repeated freezing and thawing 
will spoil the bulbs. Very early onions are grown by the trans¬ 
planting method, the seed being sown in frames or beds and the 
small onions transplanted when the size of a small lead pencil to 
the field rows. 
The tops remain green on many of the Sweet Spanish types and 
these are pulled when ready to harvest and the tops dry down in 
the winrows. 
See Page 83 for Special Prices to Market Growers 
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