COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA 
39 
Reliable Onion Seed 
CULTURE—1 oz. for 100 feet of row; 3 lbs. for one acre. 
For sets 60 to 70 lbs. of seed should be sown to the acre, 
more if the ground is light. For a good crop of onions you 
must have rich ground. Have the land spaded or plowed in 
the fall. Do not plow again in the spring. The idea is to 
have a firm seed bed which is one of the important condi¬ 
tions for success. Before you sow work the top soil very 
fine with a rake then sow. Get the weeds as soon as they 
appear. It is very important to sow as early as it is possible 
to get the ground in shape. For extra large and heavy bulbs, 
such sorts as Ailsa Craig or Prizetaker are sown in hotbeds 
and later transplanted into row 14 inches. The most popu¬ 
lar method is to sow the seed in rows a foot apart and thin 
to 3 inches apart in the rows. 
What Is The Best Onion? 
For winning money EARLY BEAUTY and SILYERBALL 
are the best. One is a yellow skinned variety, the other has 
skin that is almost white. Both are of fine appearance and 
ready for the market days ahead of the old varieties. Both 
will make money for the grower. 
For main crop, there is no better Onion than any of the 
SOUTHPORT GLOBES. Whether you choose the white, red 
or yellow, you are making no mistake and wherever the Globe 
sorts can be successfully raised they should be preferred over 
all other varieties. The Globe Onions as far as we know are 
not particularly adapted for Texas. There it is where the 
Bermuda onions are popular and most largely grown. As is 
well known Bermuda Onion is the mildest flavored of all 
onions but its drawback is that it is not a very good keeper 
and is good only for quick consumption. BERMUDA ONIONS 
can be grown in any state of the Union but good seed can be 
grown only on the Canary Islands and all our seed comes 
from there. 
AILSA CRAIG. Properly grown, this forms the biggest 
bulb of all Onions and can be grown everywhere except very 
far north where the season is short. Is a fairly good keeper. 
The best pickling Onion is WHITE PORTUGAL or Silver 
Skin. It keeps well, is early and retains its silvery white color 
which such sorts as Bartletta and others never do. Bartletta 
turns green and never makes as nice looking bulbs as Portu¬ 
gal. 
In the last few years quite a few gardeners have under¬ 
taken to grow a fairly large planting of Onions, planning to 
market them. To all such who have not heretofore grown 
Onions in a large way we offer this suggestion: Always 
plant the variety of Onion demanded or favored by your 
market rather than the sort you personally prefer. In every 
market certain sorts of onions are preferred over others. 
There are markets where you cannot sell and do well finan¬ 
cially unless it is a red onion. Other markets again demand 
yellow, and still others white onions. In some markets you 
cannot sell anything but Yellow Danvers, etc. Therefore be¬ 
fore you place your order for Onion seed get reliable advice 
as to which is the most reliable variety for the market where 
you intend to dispose of your crop. Commission men or your 
grocer is the party to see about this. 
If you will address the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C., for Bulletin No. 354 Onion Culture, it will be sent you without 
cost. 
Our ONION SEED is dependable. Germination close to 100%. Lots 
of seed on the market germinates 80% or less. Many of our customers 
that raise onions on a large scale tried low priced seed from many 
sources. They cut their expense at the time ox buying their seed but 
lost and in some cases they lost heavily on the crop. These customers 
use our seed again—they do not want the low priced stuff. 
BERMUDA ONIONS 
WHITE OR YELLOW BERMUDA ONION (92 days)—The flesh 
is white, the skin light yellow, mild in flavor so that many people 
eat it raw like an apple. We offer the best seed, genuine Tenerife. 
Pkt. 10c; oz. 15c; 1 lb. $1.80. 
CRYSTAL WAX BERMUDA (90 days)—Somewhat larger than the 
yellow variety, absolutely pure white. Pkt. 10c; oz. 15c; 1 lb. $2.00. 
OUR WATERMELON SEED is highly bred stock, as free from dis¬ 
ease and white centers in the fruit as human skill and perserevance 
tan possibly create. Good watermelon seed is of prime importance 
to the market grower and shipper. This fact is never overlooked by 
us and we can assure you that our watermelon seed is of the highest 
quality obtainable. 
SOUTHPORT RED GLOBE ONION 
(112 days) 
Our strain is famous for the large sized bulbs it produces. 
Perfectly globe shaped, color deep bright red. There is no 
finer strain than ours. If you understand that the important 
thing is the value of the CROP and not the price of the SEED 
you will try our seed so as to be able to compare the 
RESULTS our seed produces with the results of low in price 
seed. You will be surprised. This is also true when it comes 
to other seeds we send out. A comparison will SHOW you 
that the seed offered for a very low price is NOT the bargain 
it seems to be. Pkt. 10c; oz. 15c; lb. $1.60; 10 lbs. $14.00, 
prepaid. 
WHITE WELSH ONION 
Does not form bulbs and Is grown exclusively for green or 
bunching onions. A perennial variety. Will stand any amount of 
frost, never winter-kills. Although a later variety than our Prosper¬ 
ity its stalks are not quite as heavy and not quite as white as those 
of Prosperity. Plant in rows wide enough so that you can hill up 
the onions, so as to get longer, white and more tender stalks. White 
Welsh can be sold before and after seed onions are available, there¬ 
fore a well paying crop. Pkt. 10c; oz. 15c; lb. $1.60. 
ONION VALENCIA (102 days) 
Immense in size, single bulbs weighing as high as 4 lbs., but 
usually averaging a pound per bulb. Perfectly globe shaped, skin 
clear, bright yellow, flesh white, mild in flavor, highly attractive in 
appearance and an extra good keeper. Also called Riverside Spanish. 
Pkt. 10c; oz. 15c; lb. $1.80; 10 lbs. $15.00. 
MOUNTAIN DANVERS ONION (110 days) 
An early maturing type of Danvers Globe, slightly smaller in 
size, but ripening 10 days before the old type of Danvers. Pkt. 
10c; oz. 15c; lb. $1.60; 10 lbs. $14.00. 
EBENEZER ONION (118 days)—In shape a flattened globe 
skin dark yellow, flesh white mild and very firm. Properly 
stored will keep almost the year around. Makes beautiful 
onion sets and is used for that purpose extensively and the 
sets are known in the East as Japanese Onion sets. Pkt. 10c; 
oz. 15c; lb. $1.80; 10 lb. $15.00. 
Ours is the most critical trade—gardeners and florists. 
We cater to the wise and experienced. We give value. Among 
oor customers are the foremost florists and market gardeners. 
THE QUALITY of our seeds is the very best every time in all 
cases In actual field trials we find that our seeds are the equal 
and in MANY cases of better quality than seeds from other sources. 
Lower prices asked by us NEVER mean low quality. Our policy Is 
—give the customers most for their money. 
