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ONION RAISING:

WHAT KINDS TO RAISE,

AND

ae
THE WAY TO, RAISE THEM.

SIXTEENTH EDITION, (REVISED.)

JAMES J: HéGREGORY,

SEED GROWER, MARBLEHEAD, MASS.

26/4

MARBLEHEAD:
MESSENGER STEAM PRINTING HOUSE.
1880.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1864,
By JAMES J. H. GREGORY,
At the Clerk’s Office of the District Court, District of Massachusetés.

2Y ifausic: a
Pat. Office Lib.
Apri! 1914

ONION RAISING.

mere 6k WRITE THIS. TREATISE.

IN common with my fellow-seedsmen I frequently receive
letters from my farmer friends, in different parts of the United
States, asking for information,on Onion Raising. It is im-
possible in a letter sheet to give sufficient minuteness of de-
tail; I therefore send out this little treatise, in which I have
endeavored to cover very minutely the whole ground of in-
quiry. I trust that it will prove acceptable.

SHEEECTING THE SOIL.

Onions are an exception to the general rule,—they thrive
best on old ground, with the exception of an increased liabil-
ity to injury from rust or smut. I recently examined an acre
of land which had been planted continuously with onions for
three generations without perceptible decrease in the quantity
or quality of the crop.

Onions are sometimes successfully raised by alee up old
pasture land in September, thoroughly harrowing it before
frost sets in, and in the spring working in fine manure very
thoroughly with the harrow and cultivator. The result of
such planting is to get a crop very free from weeds, with
onions usually coarse, and oS or less of scallions.

(3

4

Onions can be raised on a variety of soils, but yield the
most satisfactory returns on a sandy loam, a gravelly soil, or,
to state a general rule, on those soils which are light in struc-
ture. As onions are brought on the heavier soils, the first ef-
fect will be a deterioration in their appearance, the outer skin
of the yellow varieties, losing its fine, clear, translucent yellow,
and becoming thicker, duller, and less attractive in appear-
ance. If planted on a wet or very heavy soil, the crop will
mature late, if it matures at all, giving a large proportion of
that dread of the onion grower, scallions, or “scullions” as
farmers term them, meaning those whose growth runs mostly
to the neck, forming little or no bulb or bottom. With plenty
of manure onions will thrive well on soil that is very gravelly.
I have seen very large crops grown on Marblehead Neck, on
land so stony, that, after a rain, on an area of many square
yards not a particle of soil could be seen, nothing but small
angular fragments of porphyry, with thrifty onions springing
as it were out of the very rocks. Let it be understood, how-
ever, that this soil was not of a leachy nature, but rested on a
hard-pan bottom. ‘The area of land selected should be free
of all large stones, as such interfere seriously with the straight-
ness of the rows, the planting, hoeing and general cultivation
of so small-sized a product. Ultimately, good cultivators
clear their onion grounds of large loose rocks by blasting or
sinking them ; obviously, the sooner this is done, the larger
are the returns received from such judicious investments. The
land should be laid out in as nearly a square as practicable,
as this facilitates estimates of manure, seed, and crops, gives
greater regularity to the work, and economizes in the cultiva-
tion of a crop which requires a great deal of passing over.
To protect the crop from the washing of heavy showers, the
land should be level or very nearly so, otherwise a rush of

5

water will bare the roots of some, and heap the earth around
the necks of others, to the injury of each.

PREPARING THE SOIL.

Don’t plant a weedy soil to onions, or land which abounds
in witch, or couch grass; if you do, you will repent it on
your hands and knees all summer long, for such soil will usu-
ally require two more weedings than that on which weeds
have not been allowed to ripen their seed. To have to keep
down witch grass with your fingers in an onion bed is a mis-
erable business, tearing up the onions and your patience at
the same time ; better delay a year, and meanwhile clear the
land thoroughly by a diligent use of the cultivator and hoe,
fnishing in the fall by throwing the land into ridges that the
freezings and thawings of winter may act destructively on the
roots of the witch grass. Should any scattered shoot of this
grass show itself in the spring, let the roots be carefully re-
moved with a fork or spade before the land is plowed.

When onions are planted on land full of the seed of weeds
it is well, if the season is an early one, to give sufficient time
for the first crop of weed seed to start before planting the on-
ions.

In the Eastern States it is found, as a general rule, that suc-
cess with the first crop of onions is affected by the crop which
grew in the land the previous year, and that onions will follow
carrots better than any other crop ; next to carrots, corn and
potatoes are ranked as good preparers of the ground, while to
succeed well with onions where cabbage or beets were raised
the previous year is comparatively rare. Were there no other
reason, the clean tilth which carrots insure makes it an excel-
lent crop to precede onions. In the fertile lands of the west,
the method of procedure is briefly this: Land on which grows

2
J

the bush-hazel is selected, 1f accessible, the bushes cut down
and the turf surface but little more than pared in spring with
the plow. In this condition it is usually allowed to remain a
season, exposed to the drying effects of the sun, when it is
most thoroughly harrowed and raked, and all the numerous
roots and waste are burnt, the land plowed to a moderate
depth, and the seed sown either broadcast or in drills.
Should the early part of the season prove very wet, the crop
sowed broadcast is at times smothered under a rapid growth
of weeds, while with a favoring season as high as 800 bushels
to the acre have been harvested.

After the harvesting of the crop which is to precede onions,
let the land have a fall plowing, and be thrown up into ridges,
which will not only help destroy noxious weeds and witch
grass as above stated, but will leave the land light, in a con-
dition to be worked successfully early in the spring—a great
desideratum for a crop that usually requires the entire season
to mature it. :

THE MANURE

Onions require the very best of manure, in the most tempt-
ing condition, and plenty of it at that. Peruvian guano, fish
guano, pig manure, barn manure, night-soil, kelp, muscle
mud, superphosphate of lime, wood ashes, and muck are,
either alone or in compost, all excellent food for the onion.
Old ground, to maintain it in first-rate condition, should re-
ceive from six to eight cords of manure to the acre; while
new onion ground, to get it in first-rate condition, should re-
ceive from eight to ten cords of manure. When Peruvian
guano was held at about sixty dollars per ton, experienced
farmers believed that no purchased manure paid as well as
this on old beds, provided two applications were made, one

?

7

of about 500 lbs. to the acre, to be raked in at the time of
planting, and the other of like amount to be applied broad-
cast when the onions were about half grown. Those who
used but one application at the time of sowing were apt to
see surprising effects in a fine growth up to the period of half
maturity of the crop, and an equally surprisingly effect in but
little growth from this time through the remainder of the
season. ‘Those who have used guano freely on their onion
lands in the vicinity of Philadelphia assert that one singular
result is, that, after applying it for three years in succession,
the seed onions for the most part fail to sprout in such soil,
and when seed is planted it makes but little growth after
vegetating. As far as I have observed, superphosphate of
lime used as a manure for a series of years is apt to give the
first of these results. Pig manure is held in high esteem by
many successful growers of onions in southern New England.
Fish guano applied at the rate of a ton to the acre has given
very fine crops.

In the vicinity of large towns, where night-soil can be
readily obtained, no more efficient manure can be applied
than a compost of this and muck that has been exposed
to a winter’s frost, or good loam, in the proportion of
three parts muck or loam to one part night-soil. If with
this compost barn manure and sea manure are mixed, so
much the better ; for it is a rule for this as for other crops
that a.combination of manures in an arithmetical ratio will
produce results approaching a geometrical ratio. To makea
compost of loam or muck and night-soil, select a spot very
near the piece to be planted, and cover the ground with
either to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches ; then raise a
bank of the same material surrounding this floor to the height
of three or four feet, with a thickness of from four to six feet.

8

The carts containing night-soil are backed up against this re-
ceptacle, and the door being unscrewed, the contents shoot
out. If barn manure is used, it usually forms part of the sides
of the receptacle. During the winter the frosts act on the
heap to the further sweetness and disintegrating of it, and to-
wards spring the mass is pitched most thoroughly over, being
mixed and made as fine as possible,—sand when obtainable
having been either previously, or being subsequently liberally
mixed with it, which so “cuts” or separates it that it remains
fght and fine. After an interval of about a fortnight, allow-
ing time for fermentation, the heap is again pitched over for
fining and mixing, and, occasionally, three mixings are made.
It would be well for tourists to avoid the onion districts at this
season of the year, as a little experience will amply satisfy
them.

These composts should not be made on the ground where
the onions are to be planted, for neither onions nor any oth-
er crop will grow on such spots the same season.

Where superphosphate of lime is used, it is best to make
two applications, as with guano. ‘The results of the use of
superphosphates are not always satisfactory, but I have seen
eight hundred pounds applied to the acre produce as good
results as seven cords of rich compost applied side by side.

Muscle mud obtained from the sea-coast is rarely used
alone, though large crops are sometimes raised on old onion
ground by the application of this alone, at the rate of eight
cords to the acre. It appears to give the best results a few
miles inland. The strength and consequent value of this ma-
nure varies considerably ; and here let me add that the value
of all animal manures will be found to vary greatly; other
things being equal, the higher feeding the animal receives, the
better the manure.

9

Wood ashes are generally used in connection with other ma-
nures at the rate of about 200 bushels to the acre. Wood
ashes should never be comdined with other manures, as it will
set the ammonia free, and thus deteriorate their quality. Use
ashes either by scattering it on the surface at the time of plant-
ing, or when the crop is about half grown.

In the vicinity of large towns, of all manures obtained out-
side the barnyard, night-soil is the cheapest. ‘The first farmer
who used it in this locality, comparatively but a few years
ago, was universally jeered at by his comrades, but now near-
ly all of our annual crop of 50,000 bushels is fed principally
on this manure.

The effect of kelp, (by this I mean the sea-manure which
is thrown up by the storms on very bold shores,)when used
as the principal manure, is to give a coarse onion, and a late
crop ; so late as oftentimes to be in quite a green state at the
close of the season, requiring extra labor and care to get it
in market condition. In seasons of great drought, however,
kelp serves an excellent end, in so retarding the crop that it
is not prematurely ripened. In the excessively dry season of
1864, crops along the sea-coast manured with kelp, in many
instances yielded double those manured with barnyard and
other manures.

The manure is managed most conveniently by dropping it
on the land in quite small heaps, at regular intervals, at con-
venient distance for spreading. I close this paragraph on ma-
nures by emphasizing the utility of a thorough fining of it.

PLOWING.

The farmer who brings up the sub-soil on his onion bed,
will find he has made a mistake. Onions do not require deep

IO

plowing ; four or five inches is sufficient depth to insure a |
good crops One of the finest pieces I ever saw was
managed by carting on the manure in the fall, and simply
giving it a thorough working into the soil with an ordinary
one-horse cultivator in the spring, after which the land was
raked and planted, no plow or any implement other than the
cultivator having been used. In this instance the soil was
naturally quite light. In the west, the ground having been
plowed in the fall, it frequently receives only a cultivating or
harrowing in the spring.

As the great object is to get the land in a thoroughly fine
condition, to facilitate the covering of the seed with fine earth,
to leave the soil light that there may be a vigorous growth of
the plants, and to leave the land in good working condition
for after culture, no labor should be spared to attain this end.
On most soils the ground should be plowed, cross-plowed, and
thoroughly cultivated. If, from the backwardness of the
spring and the consequent wet state of the land, the soil should
still be lumpy, it should be thoroughly rolled before raking for
planting, and it may be well to brush-harrow it. As onions
grown from the seed usually require the whole season to
ripen, the onion grower breaks ground first of all in his onion
bed, springing to this as early in the season as is possible to
work the land into a light and fine condition.

THE. SEED.

In some localities three pounds of seed was thought suffi-
cient to an acre ; afterward this was increased to three and a
half, and then to four ; and now, when raised for tracing, five
and six pounds are sometimes planted. Asa general rule,
three and one-half pounds will be found sufficient for an acre ;
and when land is very heavily manured, four pounds may be

5 A

planted with profit. Land that is planted to onions the first
time requires more seed than old land. If it is designed to
pullthe onions when small for bunching for the early market,
then seven or eight pounds of seed will be required for an acre.
If the intent is to raise the very smallonio ns known as “‘setts,”’
which are stored over winter to be planted in the spring to
produce early onions, than a much larger quantity will be
required. On old beds where rust abounds, I have known
sixteen pounds of seed sown to the acre. Of course it is of
the first importance that the seed should be reliable.

_ Compared with the average return of the crop, the cost of
good seed for planting an acre of land to onions, even at the
highest prices, is not to be considered a moment beside the
acceptance of doubtful seed evex as a gift; yet every onion-
growing community has had its stories to tell of cultivators
who have thrown away their time, labor and manure, by pur-
chasing doubtful seed at a little lower figure than that at
which reliable seed could be procured. New seed will some-
times fail to vegetate if planted a little too deep, or if snow
falls and remains on the ground after planting, or a rain falls
after raking and just before planting, though part of the same
piece planted but an hour before may come finely.

The usual test for good seed, that is, seed that will vege-
tate, is the sinking of it; that which will sink being consid-
ered reliable, and that which floats being considered worth-
less. This will answer as a general rule, but it is not wholly
reliable. Seed that will sink will not always vegetate, while
seed that will float, under some circumstances, will vege-
tate. Any farmer who tests his seed by the sinking process
will find that some of that which floats will vegetate, while no
farmer is safe in planting seed that is two years old, though it
will sink. Some farmers ascertained this latter fact to their

12

great loss during the spring of 1864. If the season is an ay-
erage one, such seed as is two years old can be relied upon if
it has weight sufficient to sink it; but such a season as the
spring of 1864, being unusually wet, much of the two-years
seed that was sown, though sown by farmers who had them-
selves raised it, failed to vegetate.

The lesson to be learned by such unfortunate result is, that
it is never perfectly safe to sow seed that is two years old, and
that the only way a prudent cultivator will use it will be when
mixed with a large proportion of fresh seed. ‘There are two
special risks incidental to the sinking test; first, the danger
that the seed will not be thoroughly dried, as onion seed when
containing sufficient moisture to cause it to sprout if stored in
bulk, appears dry to the eye; again, the vitality of onion seed
is very apt to be hurt by the drying of it, particularly so, as it
is usually deferred until just previous to planting, when mat-
ters are greatly hurried, (as the risk of injury through this pro-
cess is considered too great to permit it to be sunk earlier in
the season,) and then it is likely to be exposed too near the
kitchen stove. Seed thoroughly winnowed by the wind, on a
large sheet spread on some open spot, free from all eddies,
will be found to give a quality very nearly or quite as free
from light seed as the sinking process. As the objection just
presented does not lie against this process, it is decidedly pref-

rable. The only reliable test for the vitality of any variety
of seed is that which includes all the usual conditions of growth-
Testing by planting in a hot-house or in a box in a common
house, is not fully reliable, because the seed are not surround-
ed by the conditions of natural growth,—they then have a
temperature very mild, and very nearly constant, with no ex-
cess of moisture or dryness,—whereas the natural condition
of vegetation includes the very varying temperature of early

ty

AS sk Sa were

2 tall

=a

spring, usually a great excess of moisture and a low degree of
heat, all of which causes, either single or combined in their
effects, draw largely on the vital power of the seed. Hence,
seed that under the favoring influences of the hot-house or
kitchen may vegetate, may not have sufficient vitality to over-
come the excessive cold or moisture of the garden. The re-
sult, therefore, of the usual experimental tests can be relied
upon as giving only an approximation to the truth.

Among these approximate tests is the simple one of par-
tially filling a tumbler with cotton-wool, pouring in a little water,
not sufficient to cover the cotton, then sprinkling a certain
number of seed on the cotton, covering it with a little addi-
tional cotton to keep the moisture in. Another simple test is
to sprinkle the seed to be tested on a moist woolen cloth, fold
the cloth together, and put it in a place moderately warm.
The proportion of seed that is good will be known by the
proportion that sprout. Experienced eyes can learn some-
thing by the appearance and feel of the seed. Old seed re-
quire several days longer to vegetate than new.

WHAT KIND OF ONIONS TO PLANT.

Foreign catalogues describe a score and more varieties of
onion which are raised in Europe, but as far as experiments
have been made with them in this country, it has been found
that European-grown onion seed cannot be relied upon to
give as good bulbs as American-grown of the same varieties ;
while many sorts are not adapted to our climate. A measure
of the dubious quality of this foreign seed is well indicated
by the lower price at which it is generally catalogued.

Of those grown from seed, the Large Red, Yellow, and
White are the three standard varieties in the United States.

14

The Large Red is commonly known as the Wethersfield
onion, it having been extensively cultivated in that locality at
an early day in onion culture. This is commonly divided
into four varieties, viz: ;

LaTE LarcE Rep (see illustration) isa
, very large, thick, late onion, attaining a
Ny diameter of from three to six inches, and
7 on the fertile prairies of the west, not un-
frequently eight inches.

SEcoND Earty, which differs only in size and time of ripen-
ing; being rather flatter than the large sort, not so large, and
coming to maturity earlier.

THE EARLY Fiat REp is still flatter in form, smaller in size,
rather light-colored, and matures earliest of the three sorts ;
as early as the last of July.

es) is also a fine GLOBE variety of EARLY RED onion
‘ (see illustration) in cultivation, which
comes to maturity about a week earlier

than the Danvers Early, is of good size
and flavor, and in color usually of a very
"bright, handsome red. ‘The seed of this
variety is much sought after by onion-
growers, but it is difficult to procure in a pure state.

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There is a very handsome late variety of onion known as
Southport Red Globe, which originated in Southport, Con-
necticut. -It.is quite late and therefore not safe) ta) plant
north of Connecticut.

There are four varieties of the Yellow onion in cultivation,
of which the Yellow Flat, called also Yellow Dutch, and
Strasburg, and in the Eastern States the “‘Silverskin,”’ is the

=)

parent. ‘These varieties are the Common Flat onion, the
Early Cracker onion, the Danvers onion, and the Interme-
diate onion.

The Common F iat(incorrectly called Silverskin in the
Eastern States, a name which properly belongs to the White
Portugal) is not so generally cultivated since the Early Dan-
vers was introduced, as formerly. It grows to a diameter of
about three inches, is compact in its structure, and of good
flavor. It is a good keeper.

THE EARLY CRACKER onion (see illustra-
tion) is very thin, of a beautiful honey color,
. quite compact, and oftentimes hollows a lit-
yy tle at the bulb around the neck. It ma-
4 tures about a week or ten days earlier than
the Early Danvers, and in fineness of structure and delicacy
of flavor is unsurpassed.

The great practical objection to the cultivation of this on-
ion on an extensive scale is the extreme care required in
handling it ; it needs care to prevent bruising and consequent
rotting. For using in the fall, this objection would not lie
against it with any great force; this and the Early Flat Red
are excellent varieties for raising where the seasons are short.
It grows to a diameter of from two and a halr to four inches.

THe EARLY RounD DaNvers YELLOW onion, was originat-
ed by Mr. Daniel Buxton and brother of South Danvers, by
careful selections of the roundest and earliest specimens from
the Yellow Flat onion. The Danvers is an early onion, ma-
turing within about a week or ten days of the Early Red and
Cracker onions. It is very prolific, and, ike the Red Globe
onion, gives larger crops by about one-third than the flat va-
rieties. When each are seen just before pulling, the differ-
ence in the bulk of the crop is not very apparent, but when

16

measured, the globular form of the Danvers “‘tells.’” When
overgrown by too thin planting of seed this onion is at times
rather coarse in structure, but ordinarily it is very compact,
fine of structure, heavy, anda good.keeper. When well rip-
ened, I find it keeps equally well under the same circumstances
as the common Flat onion. The earliness of the Danvers
onion is a great gain in short seasons, or very wet ones; and
as this onion begins to form its bulb quite early in its growth,
(‘bottoms down”’ is the farmer’s phrase,) it presents marked
advantages over the flat sorts for early marketing. In the
Boston market the Danvers sells for somewhat more a barrel
than the Red.

Having had considerable experience in selecting onions for
seed purposes, I find that I can obtain a much greater pro-
portion of handsome, well-developed seed onions from
onions that have been raised from seed stock that has been
carefully selected through a long series of years, and am led
to believe that there can be “pedigree’’ onions as well as
pedigree cattle, and that seed raised from them can be relied
on under the same conditions to give a handsomer onion
than can the average of seed.

WHITE PORTUGAL.

The cultivation of this early onion is mostly confined to
the raising and planting of what are known as “Setts” or
Button onions, or onions for early family use, as it is a poor
keeper. It is a sweet, mild onion, of a good size for family
use, though averaging considerably smaller than the varieties
that have been described. Here let me say, that, for family
use, except for frying, the common onions of the market are
much too large to be economical,—the two outer layers of
an onion four inches and upwards in diameter, though mak-

me

ing up about half the bulk of the onion, are usually coarse
and tough, and slough off when boiled. The sweetest, ten-
derest, and most economical onions for this purpose of the
yellow sort are those that are from two to three inches in
diameter.

THE QUEEN.

Of the newer sorts, the “Queen,” a white English variety
growing to from two to two and one-half inches in diameter,
is doubtless the earliest at present known ; so early that under
favorable circumstances it may grow to a market size about
as soon as those raised from Philadelphia setts.

SoULHPORT:’ “WHITE ~GLOBE.

This is a large, globular, white variety, that is about as
round and, when cured in the shade, about as white as a
snow-ball, being the handsomest of all onions. It is too late
to be planted with safety in latitude north of southern Con-
necticut.

MARZAJOLE, MAMMOTH TRIPOLI, NASBEY’S
MAMMOTH AND GIANT ROCCA.

Are European varieties that grow to a mammoth size in
Southern Europe where for their mild flavor they are held in
high esteem. Grown in this country they are of a milder
flavor than our common sorts, but, though they grow larger,
do not attain to the size they acquire in Europe, and though
excellent for use in a green state are not good as keepers.

There are usually the distinctions I have here stated be-
tween the late and early varieties; but some times drought
and other causes will almost destroy these distinctions, ripen-
ing the very early and medium early sorts at the same time.

| 18
“WHAT ONIONS SHALL 17 Rigeme

Having described the standard varieties, a beginner may
query in his mind as to what variety would be most profitable
and most reliable for him to cultivate.

The Danvers onion is the handsomest shaped, yields as
much as any other sort, and more than any of the flat varie-

_. ties, per. acre... In the town of . Marblehead: Sover mine

hundred bushels have been raised on one acre of land.
It is an onion very popular in the Eastern market and in
Eastern Massachusetts is raised to almost the exclusion of any
other variety. ‘The Large Red onion is quite a favorite in
the west, and is considered by some dealers to be the best
variety for shipping purposes, though the Danvers is also
shipped largely. Those who live in the latitude where the
_ onion is difficult to mature from the seed in one year, affirm
that the Red onion will mature farther south than any other
variety.

After all, whatever suggestions may be offered, the local
demand will do most for settling this point. Aside from this,
I would recommend the Early Red Globe Danvers as, 0x the
whode, the most desirable sort. The Red Globe is somewhat
hardier than the Danvers.

ONION SETIS OR BUITON ONION:

In that portion of the United States south of the vicinity of
New York City, onions from seed raised as far south as the
Middle States cannot be relied on to mature the first year,
owing to the extreme heat of the climate forcing the forma-
tion of the bulb and drying down the top quite early in the
season. Sutif the seed was grown in the Northern States
from carefully selected stock, it will mature onions the first
season when planted in the Southern States, as I learn from

a,

several of my correspondents, some of whom have grown
them of market size the first season as far south as Texas.
As a rule such onions are hardly as large as those grown far-
ther north, but yet amply large enough for market. To give
the rule concisely, if gardeners in the south wish to raise
onions from the black seed so that they will grow to market
size the first season, they should procure seed grown as far
north as possible; and vice versa, gardeners in the North
who wish to grow their own setts should procure southern
grown seed. If in these southern latitudes two years are
given to the maturing of the crop, the first year, the ground
is prepared as already directed, excepting that it is but lightly
manured ; broad, shallow drills, from one to two inches in
width, are made about ten inches apart, and these are sown
early in spring, very thickly, at the rate of about thirty pounds
to the acre, and the crop becomes mature in July, when it is
pulled and stored in cool, airy lofts, being spread very thinly
over the floor,—those raised from the White Portugal onion
to a depth of about two inches, and those from the yellow
sorts to a depth of about four inches. A gentle raking occa-
sionally is of advantage to promote dryness and to prevent
sprouting. ‘The yellow variety is the best for keeping, and
hence will bear the confinement incident to transportation
with less injury ; but the clean, white appearance of the onion
raised from the white setts gives them the preference in the
market. Attempts are often made in the north by market-
gardeners to raise their own setts and thus save the large
outlay often required to purchase them,—for most of the early
cnions now used in the northern cities are raised from the
setts. The attempts to raise them in the north were former-
ly for the most part a failure ; a large proportion of the setts
so raised pushing seed shoots and thus spoiling the onion for
market purposes, for the reason that northern grown seed

20

was used. The true sett is an onion that has been checked
in its annual growth and dried down before it has matured,—
hence it has an additional growth to make before its annual
growth is matured, and before this there can be no seed shoot
pushed, for the onion is a biennial plant and the seed shoot
belongs to the second year of its growth.

Setts are planted in rows about ten inches apart, and two
or three inches distant in the row. As the ground worms are
very apt to remove them when first planted, the bed should
be occasionally examined. Some roll them immediately after
planting, others hold to dropping them in shallow drills, not
covering them at all with earth.

Onion setts vary in size from a pea to a hazel-nut. The
smaller the size of the setts, the greater the number of onions
contained in a given quantity; but many find it for their
interest to purchase setts of a good size, as they yield larger
onions. Among the market-gardeners in the vicinity of the
large cities onion setts are very extensively planted, some
planting as high as one hundred and fifty bushels annually.
The quantity planted per acre varies with the size, from six
to ten bushels.

RARERIPES.

Rareripes are onions raised by planting out bulbs of the
‘growth of the previous season. The Rareripe oftentimes dif-
fers from the onion sett only in being a matured onion, as”
frequently they are about as small as the setts. The method
of raising them is the same as that of raising early onions
from setts, with the difference of planting them at times at
greater distance apart in the row proportionate with their
greater size. The raising of Rareripes is a very profitable way
of disposing of such onions as are badly sprouted, are very

yet manag

Mt |

small, or in any way unprofitable for marketing. A seed shoot
may be uniformly expected from each onion; but as this
greatly deteriorates the quality of the Rareripe, making it
tough and woody in structure, it should always be cut off. If
cut off before the swelled growth appears,(a striking charac-
teristic of the onion family and a proof of the skill of the
Divine Architect, in strengthening by so simple a process the
tall, thin stalk designed to support the heavy seed head,) it
will again shoot up ; wait, therefore, until this swelling begins
to show itself, and then cut below it, and no more trouble
from this source will ensue. The smaller the onions planted
as Rareripes, the handsomer will be the crop,—the very smail
ones producing each one handsome round onion, while the
large ones produce two or more which are irregular in form.

POTATO ONIONS, TOP ONIONS AND SHALLOTS.

Potato onions, (see engraving,)
Top onions and Shallots are thought
by some to have originated from the
common onion. It is certain that
at times all three of these varieties
are sported by the common onion.

. In a large field of seed onions, occasionally small onions will

be found, growing in place of seed, and these onions when
set out the ensuing spring will vegetate and develop readily,
but they will not always in turn yield the like, 7. ¢., Top
onions.

Potato onions, or multiplying onions, as they are some-
times called, are a thick, hard-fleshed variety, very mild and
pleasant to the taste, and tender if eaten soon after gathering,
but they grow to be tough as the season advances. They
are poor keepers, unless spread very thinly in some dry

22

apartment. They are propagated by planting the bulbs in
drills, fourteen inches apart, the largest ones six, the smaller
four inches apart in the row, and the smallest ones two
inches. The small ones rapidly increase and make onions
from two to three inches in diameter, while the larger ones
divide and make from four to a dozen or even sixteen
{usually from five to eight) small, irregularly shaped onions.
It will be seen that the larger bulbs answer the same purpose
as the seed in the common onion ; hence to have onions for
sale and yet maintain the stock, it is necessary that both
sizes should be planted.

The Potato onion should be indulged for its best develop-
ment in a soil rather moister than the varieties from seed. —
The advantage of the Potato onion is its earliness, and the
fact that it is not as liable to injury from the onion maggot,
when that abounds, as the common sort. I have seen an
instance where, on half an acre of each growing side by side,
the common onion (that raised from seed) was almost wholly
destroyed, while the Potato onion was nearly uninjured.

Shallots differ from Potato onions principally in their
characteristics of a@/ways multiplying ; a Shallot zever grows
into a large round onion, but always multiplies itself, forming
bulbs that average more oblong and are usually smaller than
those of the Potato onion. I find them occasionally pushing
a seed shoot, which I have never seen in the Potato onion.
Their habit of growth is finer, making a longer and more
slender leaf than the Potato onion. They are mild of flavor,
and greatly excel every other variety of the onion family in
their keeping properties: with little care they may be kept
the year round. All seedsmen do not know the difference
between the Potato onion and the Shallot. Within a few
years I have twice had Shallots sent me under the name
‘Potato onion.”

23

Top onions are propagated from little bulbs, which grow in
this variety where the seeds grow in the common sorts. They
grow to a large size, are pleasant, mild flavored, rather
coarsely and loosely made up, and have the reputation of
being poor keepers. Raised like the Potato onion.

SEED SOWING MACHINES.

There are a variety of machines in the market for sowing
onion and other seed, but most or all of them can be
arranged in four classes, zzz; Brush Sowers, Snap Sowers,
Drop Sowers and Agitators.

Brush machines are those in whlch the seed is forced out
by a brush contained in the seed box. The characteristic
feature in this class of seed planters is of English origin, and
has passed through various modifications in this country.

The Brush machine,
an engraving of which
is here presented,
makes the drills, drops
the seed, covers and
rolls it ; it is adapted
for planting all the
=\ == =common root crops.

The rows in this machine are marked out by a chain, two
of which hang near the handles and drag on the ground,
being-used alternately. The wheel is pushed along the mark
made by the chain.

The principle on which the “Snap” machine is founded is
the securing the flow of seed through the aperture by a
jerking motion, which is usually effected by a spring which
makes a snapping noise when set free.

One of the machines built on this principle is known as the
Danvers Onion Sower. (See engraving.)

x
The _ struct-
ure is ex-
ceedingly
simple ; and
as it involves
but few parts, and hence is but little hable to get out of
order, and when out of order can readily be repaired by any
blacksmith, it was quite a favorite with onion-raisers, but im-
proved implements have to a large degree taken the place
of it.

The Danvers machine opens the furrows, drops the seed,
covers it, but does not roll it. Farmers usually attach an old
horseshoe to the end of the seed coverer, which gives
sufficient weight to make it answer the purposes of a roller.

Matthews’ Garden Seed Dmill is a fine example of the seed
planters on the “agitator” principle. ‘This agitator is a finger
of iron in the seed box which projects just over the orifice
from which the seed drops and by a motion given it by the
revolving of the wheel, keeps the seed continuaily stirred and
thus prevents its clogging,—a trouble to every gardener when
planting such seed as beet and parsnip. Were I called upon
to recommend a seed sower for general work it would be the
Matthews; all in the market have more or less of good
qualities but I have found that the Matthews combines more
than any other one.

On light soil hand cultivators are useful. These are now

he

Sow 801d combined with seed
) jf ~ sowers, so that the same
implement may be used
for either purpose.

The Matthews’ hand
Cultivator is a good il-
lustration of this class.
(See engraving. )

In these machines the seed falls through holes in little
slides of tin, different slides being substituted as the seed to
be sown is larger or smaller, or the quantity to be planted is
greater or less. Farmers will often find it for their interest to
enlarge or diminish the size of these holes. The holes in the
tin of the Danvers sower, to give a liberal sowing of about
four and a half pounds to the acre, should be large enough
to drop ten to fourteen onion seed to each snap. By putting
the hand under and counting the seed which falls in a dozen
snappings of the machine, a reliable average can be ascer-
tained. As the size of onion seed often varies, no particular
size of hole can be relied upon; it must be tested for each
season. Another convenient test is to trundle the machine
over the barn floor, or a newspaper spread and secured in the
field, and observe how thickly the seed fall. For a beginner
the first test is the better one.

Of the sower which drops the seed in hills I will treat
presently under the head of “Onions with Carrots.”
| PLANTING THE SEED.

Having selected our seed sower and regulated it, the next
step is to plant the seed. It is exceedingly necessary that
the first row planted should be straight, as this becomes a
measure of straightness for allthe others. A steady hand and

26

a straight eye are of great value here; but with a little
practice a good degree of accuracy can be obtained by most
persons, though a few will always find it for their profit to
hire some experienced hand. Two or three sticks may serve
to mark out the first row, and by keeping these bearing on
each other as the machine is pushed along, the first line must
be a straight line. In some machines the chains which drag
from the handle, and in others the wheels, serve to mark
out the rows.
As the Scuffle
Hoes (see en-
graving) and
Wheel Hoes
(see engraving) to be used will be of a constant width it is
important tha
the width of the
rows should be
kept constant,
particularly that
hey should not
be brought
nearer together
than the dis-
tance fixed upon. ‘The distance between the rows varies in
different sections from twelve to fourteen inches ; when seed
are planted for setts, ten inches is the usual distance between
the drills.

The various hoes used in weeding are pushed before the
operator and again drawn quickly back, the operator taking
short steps, and making the hoe cut in both the forward and
backward slides. After the tops get so far grown as to bend
over into the rows, they are apt to be caught between the

Paes

as

wheel and axle of the wheel hoe ; hence from thence forward
the scuffle hoe should be used.

Farmers sometimes make their own scuffle hoes out of a
piece of an old
saw, the teeth an-
swering a good
purpose in cutting
off the weeds.
’ The V-shaped hoe,
(see engraving,) called Howard’s Peat will do excellent
service if a weight of about two pounds be fastened around
the handle near the ground.

In Eastern Massachusetts fourteen inches is the usual
distance between the rows; while in Southern New England
and parts of the West, twelve inches is preferred.

Before planting the seed it should be carefully examined,
to see that it is perfectly clean from small stones, or any
substance that can possibly clog the hole of exit. Let it be
remembered, when regulating the machine, that the seed will
not be likely to fall so fast from a full hopper as they will
when it is nearly empty. The seed should be sown from half
an inch to large an inch under the surface. The lighter the
soil, the deeper the seed may be sown. It is thought that
deep sowing has the advantage of - getting the plants so
deeply rooted that they will bear having the earth slightly
pulled away from them in the first weeding, without so much
injury-as sometimes results when they are planted shallow.
While planting, as well as when using the hoe, our farmers
will find the advantage of having a finely pulverized surface

to work on, free of all clods, sticks and stones, as such will

continually vary the straightness of the rows, interfere with
the planting and covering of the seed, and, when the hoe is

28

used, glance it out of its course in among the tender plants.
HOEING AND WEEDING.

In from two to three weeks, if the weather is an average
for the season, the young plants by a close examination may
be seen pushing their green arches above the surface, bearing
a close resemblance to a curve of grass. As soon as suffi-
ciently up to enable a sharp eye to determine the course of
the rows, without delaying a day or an hour, if the weather
permits, the prudent cultivator will slide through his Scuffle
Hoe, as at this season of the year the weather is very uncer-
tain, and the land may become too wet to be worked soon
after the young plants appear, and yet not too wet to hinder
a rapid growth of weeds. Sowing a few radish with the
onion seed is sometimes practised. As the radish seed veg-
etates in a few days the rows are thereby marked out and the
wheel hoe can be used earlier. Care need be taken that the
radish seed are not larger than the onion and so clog the
hole. To obtain very choice cabbage plants, which grow fine
and stocky, farmers drop a few seed into the hopper with the
onion seed. On sorich a seed bed, prompt action is very
necessary, or a miserably discouraging tangle will soon be
the result of negligence. In their comparative freedom from
weeds the cultivators in the West, on their new land, have a
great advantage over their brethren in the East. By selecting
pasture land and avoiding the use of barn manure, the work
of weeding may be greatly reduced. I have raised a crop
on such land, when the entire expense from after the crop
was planted until it was gathered and got into the barn was
but $35.00 to the acre. It was so free of weeds that one
man slid through, hand weeded and partly thinned an acre
and a quarter inside of a day. In about a week after the hoe
has pissed through them, the young plants will need their

29

first weeding with the fingers. This is hand-and-knee work
and, pursued as it has to be in this position at intervals through-
out the heat of summer, it is to many the most wearying work
of the farm. Boys being more nimble fingered than men,
besides working for lower wages, there is a great saving in
employing them, provided they can be relied on to pull up the
roots of the weeds. When several are at work it will be wise
to have a man with them.

To protect the knees from sharp stones, “pads” are used,
which consist of squares of about eight inches, of several
thicknesses of woolen usually covered with leather, strapped
to the knees. In ordinary seasons onions require three or
four hand-and-knee weedings, and from four to six slidings
with the hoe. Aman’sjudgment must be his guide. Asonions
shade the ground but slightly, weeds grow rapidly in onion
beds ; and if they are once allowed to get the start, the labor
of cultivation is immensely increased. Some cultivators prac-
tice scratching the soil away from the onions when weeding,
with an old knife curved at a nght angle near the point, or by
a piece of iron hoop curved, the end being nailed to a small
piece of wood conveniently held in the hand. Others prac-
tice throwing the soil slightly around the young onions with a
scuffle hoe made with reference to this use, with a view of
smothering the small weeds. Noyes’ hand weeder will be found
a very handy little implement for removing weeds, particularly
<=>. when the surface of

“Sy the ground is some-
what hard. When the
Ss onions have begun to
“bottom down,” z. e. form their bulbs, it is the general prac-
tice to remove as far as practicable any surplus earth that has
accumulated around them. In weeding, two or three rows are

30

taken together, the weeds being dropped between the rows.
Just before the crop npens down, larger weeds will show them-
selves here and there over the beds ; these are generally gath-
ered in baskets and dropped at the end of the rows. If the
seed of such weeds get ripe before they are pulled, the weeds
should be carefully deposited in a pile in some by-place, where
they can be burned when dry. Growers who practice throw-
ing such weeds to their hogs because they are large and suc-
culent, make an annual seeding of their beds with weeds.
Particularly is this true of Purslane, one of the greatest pla-
gues in the heat of the season. The habit of this plant is to
ripen the seed, well down on the stock, while the main body
of the plant is in its full vigor ; hence it usually happens that
much seed drops into the land some time before itis pulled,
while the farmer never mistrusts it has ripened. I have seen
Purslane completely eradicated from garden plots where it
formerly was a pest, by a little care in this matter of letting it go
to seed. The same remarks apply to the weed known as
chickweed. When blank spots occur from poor seed, poor
planting, or the ravages of the onion maggot, bush beans, cab-
bages or tomatoes may be planted.

When the plants are too thick, over one to two inches, they
_ should be thinned ; but the beginner had better pull with a
sparing hand, for, if the ground has been manured very liber-
ally, the crop will do well when the plants are very thickly
together, and they will oftentimes grow as large when very
thick as they will with three times the room. Onion-growers
like to see their onions piled two or three deep as they grow,
the upper layer being entirely out of the ground with the ex-
ception of the roots. When the tops begin to fall over, the
onion is rapidly maturing, and the bulbs will now grow very
fast. Farmers will tell you that “the top is going down into

31

the pottom.” The Flat onions begin to bottom late in the
season, while the Danvers makes a very encouraging show of
bulb quite early. Should the land have been but poorly ma-
nured in seasons of drought, the crop will be apt to be ripen-
ed prematurely, forming a small sized onion, while (divided
it may be by merely a wall) those that have been more liber-
ally manured stand the drought, and keep green sufficiently
long to receive advantage from the later rains ; an investment
of twenty dollars in manure thus making a difference some-
times of a hundred dollars in the crop. If the crop is quite
backward, late in the season the necks of the onions are
sometimes bent over to hasten the formation of the bulb.
This is done by hand, or by rolling a barrel over two rows at
a time.

SroRING ~THE .CROP.

When the necks have fallen over, and the great proportion
of them are dry, the crop should be pulled by hand and be
laid in winrows, about three rows being put in one. At this
time all weeds remaining should be pulled and piled, prepar-
atory to the final clearing of the bed. ‘The pulling of the
crop should not be delayed after the tops are well dry ; for if
rain should now fall, the onions will be apt to re-root to their
injury. Should the backwardness of the season make it ne-
cessary to pull the crop in rather a green state, it will be well
to allow it to remain untouched, after pulling, for about a week,
before turning or stirring, which will tend to hasten the decay
of the greener tops ; otherwise they should be carefully stirred
every pleasant day with a wooden-toothed rake. This should
be very carefully done, as the onions are very easily injured,
especially at this stage, and when injured are almost as likely
to rot as a bruised apple. See that they are not injured by

32

the raking or treading of a careless hand. When the crop is
thoroughly dried, the onions feeling hard to the handling, it
will be ready for topping for market. They are carefully
collected in baskets, rejecting all stones, scallions and rotten
onions, and taken in wagon loads to the barn, when the tops
are cut off clean to the onion with a sharp knife, or if the
necks are small and quite dry they may be pulled off by the
thumb and finger. This is usually done by boys or females
from two to four cents a bushel. While collecting, look
sharply on the bottom of the onions to detect rotten ones.
Some growers prefer to leave such of the crop as they design
to keep for a late market untopped. If it is intended to
market the crop immediately, the onions may be piled to a
depth of three or four feet; otherwise they should not be-
over two feet in depth. Leave the barn doors and windows
all open every pleasant day. As the crop is topped, those of
the size of a hazel-nut and smaller are classed as pickle
onions, these being marketed principally for that purpose, and
usually bringing about half the price of the full grown ones.

TRACING, OR ROPING ONIONS.

When the crop has ripened down but poorly, the greener ~
onions are at times traced. This is-done by cutting off the
neck within about two inches of the bulb, and binding it to a
handful of straw ; beginning at the butt end of the straw, lay
the neck against the straw, give two or three firm tums with
the twine (net or wrapping twine), add another onion, and
thus proceed till the straw is covered, the larger onions being
tied to the bottom and gradually decreasing in size to the top.
Onions so slowly ripened that they would soon spoil if stored
in amass, will keep well when traced, and oftentimes bring
a greater profit than the best of the crop. Rareripes,

33

and such of the earlier onions as are to be sent long dis-
tances, or be kept awhile before marketing, are sometimes
traced. ‘Traced onions keep in good condition a long while
in a dry, cool place. Within a few years tracing has almost
ceased in this vicinity.

MARKETING THE CROP.

The Sett onions, Potato onions, Top onions and Rare-
ripes, In some sections, are for the most part sent to market
ina green state in bunches. ‘The Potato onions are brought
from the South, dry, in large quantities to supply the North-
ern markets, soon after the arrival of the Bermuda onions,
just before the ripening of the Northern crop. After the
Potato onions follows the earliest variety of the Red, and
immediately after, the Danvers, and finally, the large Red
completes the season. ‘The sales in the Northern markets
early in the season are made mostly for the supply of the
local immediate demand, the great bulk of the crop not being
sent in before the call for shipping purposes has commenced.
For this reason, farmers find it to be for their interest to do
but little more than feel the market until about the middle of
October, as large purchases made previous to this period are
mostly as an investment by speculators, with the exception
of such lots as go to supply the markets of large towns and
cities of the extreme North beyond the limits of the onion-
growing region.

The price of onions varies greatly ; they have sold as low
as seventy-five cents a barrel, while the early crop of 1864
sold as high as sixteen dollars a barrel, by the five hundred
barrels. From September to March, in the same season, the
fluctuation is sometimes between two dollars and six dollars.
Crops have at times been sold to be delivered in the course

34

of two months, and in that time have more than doubled in
price. The general truth is, that those brought latest to
market, being kept till near spring, bring the best prices.
The great facilities afforded for onion raising by the fertile
soil and favoring climate of the West, will doubtless in a few
years tell powerfully on the Eastern market.

PRESERVING: THE: GR@E

If it is the design to keep the crop for a winter market, it
should be stored in a cool, dry place, out of danger from
severe frosts, in bulk, but not over two feet in depth. Onions
will bear a temperature of 28 degrees without injury, or any
degree of cold if kept frozen till the final thawing when in
bulk. It is a good plan to let them rest in a lattice work of
slats on the sides and bottom of the building, that the air
may circulate through them. If kept in barrels, these should
not be headed, and should have two or three openings made
with a hatchet or large auger in the sides near the bottom.
If it is designed to keep the onions till spring, the cheapest
and best way is to freeze them. To do this, select the north-
west portion of some out building under which the air does
not circulate, spread the onions about one and a half feet in
depth, leaving a vacant space of about two feet from the side
of the building, let them get thoroughly frozen, then cover
them closely with an old sail, or any cloth, to keep the hay
from mixing with them, and spread the hay two feet or more
in depth above the covering; also pack fine hay closely
between the heap and the sides of the building. Here let
them remain untouched until the frost is entirely out, when
they should be spread at once, well aired, and turned care-
fully and often until thoroughly dried.

If the onions in the fall are not well ripened, or if a larger

i

proportion than usual are rotten, which is apt to be the case
after a very wet season or when the onion maggot has given
much trouble, to store largely for winter sales is attended with
great risk. I have known one enterprising cultivator to sink
several thousand dollars in a single season by storing heavily
under such circumstances.

SMUT, RUST AND MAGGOT.

The onion crop is sometimes severely injured by a disease
resembling mildew. ‘The tops of the leaves die, and the
whole plant is more or less covered by this white blast.
From the effects of it the onions almost cease their growth,
and the crop finally obtained is small in size. ‘This disease
in some sections is known by the name of “rust.” It is
more frequent in extraordinary wet seasons, and is more com-
mon on old beds than new. ‘The best remedy yet known for
old beds is to carefully remove from the bed and destroy at
the close of the season all diseased bulbs, as they will be
likely to spread the disease by giving it a lodgment in the
soil, then rup the plow a little deeper, and thus mix ina little
new soil.

The onion maggot is hatched from the eggs of a fly, which
are deposited in the plant (not the seed) very near the sur-
face of the ground. Its presence may be detected in the
crop when very young by the sudden turning yellow and fall-
ing- over of the plant, when, if the attempt is made to pull, it
will usually break off near the surface, and on squeezing sev-
eral small maggots will present themselves. Some writers
state that the fly deposits its eggs only at an early period in
the growth of the plant. It is true that some seasons: the in-
jury is most marked previous to the bottoming of the onion,
but I have seen beds injured at every stage of their growth,

36

and in one season about half of the crop was destroyed by
the maggot at the close of the season’ after the onions had
_ been pulled. Various remedies have been proposed, but of
these it may be said that they are not practical on a large
scale. ‘The idea on which most of these is based is that of
producing a scent so disagreeable as to drive away the fly ;
but old experimenters recall the capacity of the Canker-worm
moth and the Squash beetle to ignore the most repulsive
obstructions of this kind when stimulated by their instinct to
deposit their eggs. Pine sawdust, either clear, soaked in the
urine of cattle, or in the ammoniacal liquor from gasworks,
scattered over the bed just before the appearance of the
plants, at the rate of a bushel to ten square rods, guano
‘sprinkled along the rows and on the plants, twice during the
season, unleached ashes used in the same manner,—these have
given satisfactory results to some growers. Scalding water
poured from a common watering-pot through a hole the size
of a pipe stem, along the drills near the roots of the plants,
and repeated three or four times during a season, is said to
be efficacious. It is obvious that the practical value of such
a remedy must be confined to a very small area of land.

In New England the maggot has been slowly making his
way North, adding greatly to the uncertainty of the crop,
until his ravages have extended to Southern Massachusetts.
Very light soils appear to be most affected by his ravages. In
some seasons the injury done is insignificant, and on the
whole the area planted in Massachusetts has not been mate-
rially reduced.

He will one year confine his ravages mostly to one portion
of a township, and the next season reverse matters; while
some tracts are almost never injured, on others he appears to
settle down as a permanent resident.

mH
a a

37
RAISING ONION SEED.

What does all this investment of money, time, labor and
watchfulness, amount to if the seed is worthless, has no vital-
ity, is not true to name, or was grown from worthless trash?
Onion seed should be raised from the very best onions of the
very best crop grown in the vicinity. The best type should
be first selected, which should be a medium sized onion, very
hard and compact in structure, with a close, thin, fine skin,
and a very small neck. Those selected for seed should be
the earliest ripened of the crop, provided such are fully ripen-
ed and not blighted. To select the earliest onions, the
seed grower should visit the field before the crop is pulled.

Onion seed is sometimes (I fear too often) grown from the
entire crop, be it good, bad or indifferent. A great step of
improvement on this is to purchase outright as good a crop
as can be found ; but the only way to secure and keep the

‘best and most reliable seed is that first given. Poor onion

seed is always very dear indeed, as a present, while first-class
seed at the highest price yet paid is worth a long and careful
seeking. |

Seed onions should be kept in a cool, dry place, spread to
about a foot in depth; if kept in barrel, (old lime casks are
best) these should be left unheaded, and two or three pieces
should be chopped off near the bottom to admit a circulation
of air. As early in the spring as the ground can be worked,
they:should be set out in trenches, (the onion when covered
in trenches will stand a heavy frost without injury,) which
should be from three to four feet apart and about four inches
below the surface, the land having first been heavily manured.
Some good seed growers apply their manure directly in the
trench, while others spread it broadcast and plow in. I pre-

38

fer to plow in a liberal quantity, and then use ashes, super-
phosphate of lime or guano, in the rows, applying it just
before covering onions. If the onions are much sprouted,
the sprout may be cut off quite home to the onion, which
will insure a straighter and healthier growth. Care should be
taken to plant right end up, for, odd as it sounds, in the
spring it sometimes requires a little care to determine which
is the right end. As soon as the onion is well rooted, the
earth should be drawn up to it; and this should be done
three times during the season, until the earth is heaped around
them eight or ten inches above the surface of the ground.
The first hoeing should be given them very soon after the
sprout starts, to fully cover the onion, as when exposed it is
very apt to decay. With this support, on land that is not too
moist, I find that no further precaution is necessary to keep
the seed tops from the ground, though it is the practice
of many growers to support with light strips of wood, or a
line drawn along about two feet from the ground. After the
last hoeing, (and very clean culture should be given then),
they should be gone among as little as possible.

The seed tops may be safely cut (leaving about six inches
of the stem on) when the seed vessels begin to crack; or
what is a better guide yet (for after the seed vessels begin to
crack much seed is apt to be lost, especially by heavy storms, )
after the turning yellow, near the ground, of the seed stalk ;
when this occurs, the top may be removed immediately, even
though it should appear quite green above.

Seed tops will be often found in which the seed in the
shortest-stemmed receptacles is ripened, and the receptacles
themselves are cracked, while a fresh growth of seed vessels
in a green state almost conceal them ; in such cases I would
advise the cutting of the top. ‘The tops when cut should be

39

spread to a depth of six inches or less, in a warm place
where heat and air abound, and be turned two or three times
daily, until thoroughly dried, when the seed is ready to be
threshed out ; or it may be stored in barrels in a dry loft, and
threshed as wanted. If the seed is plump and has been well
ripened, the frequent turning of the stalks will have shaken
out by far the larger proportion of it,—in some seasons more
than five-sixths.

As the seed stalks make but little shade, the ground be-
tween the rows can be cultivated to spinach, lettuce,
radishes, turnips, or some early vegetables, then this will make
the hilling of the seed more costly, and when these are har-
vested, be planted to cucumbers for pickles. The planting
between the rows should be confimed to the middle, and in
trenches an inch or so below the surface, unless it be made
after the onions have received their final hoeing; otherwise
the drawing of the earth around the seed stalks will seriously
mterfere with these crops.

Strange as it may seem to those who have not tried it, such
rampant growers such as squashes can be raised among seed
onions and generally with no material injury to the seed. I
have known five tons of Hubbard Squashes grown on about
half an acre of ground planted to seed onions. ‘The squash
should be planted towards the close of May, after the onions
have received their final hilling, two or three seeds being
planted close to every other row, and about nine feet apart in
the row ; allow but ove plant to grow in @ hill. ‘The vines,
thus having plenty of room between the rows to spread about,
do not incline much to climbing on the seed stock. Care
should be exercised to break off at once the tendrils of such
as attempt to climb. The one plant to a hill system will be

40

found to yield as liberal a crop and finer squashes than the
old system of three or four to the hill.

The yield of onion seed to the barrel of seed onions varies
greatly ; indeed, no investments near the seaboard prove
more speculative. The maggot sometimes proves very de-
structive, so much so that the crop will not average half a
pound to the barrel, while under very favoring circumstances
crops have been raised which average eighteen pounds to the
barrel.

When the seed is fully dry, (and seed that has been sunk
should have a long exposure to the air and frequent stirrings ;
I have known large lots spoilt from want of care in this), it
should be so stored as to be safe from all injury from cats and
other animals, who are apt to resort to it, to the utter de-
struction of its vitality.

RAISING .CARROTS WITH Oia

The plan of raising carrots with onions is considered a great
improvement by many who have adopted it, as the yield of
carrots is thought to be a clear gain, diminishing but little or
none the yield of onions. Carrots are planted in two ways ;
one by sowing them in drills between every other row of
onions, and the other, which is considered an improvement,
called the Long Island plan, by planting the onions in hills
from seven to eight inches from center to center, dropping
a number of seed in each hill, and from the first to the
twelfth of June planting the carrot seed, usually by hand,
between these hills in two rows, then skipping one, and thus
on through the piece. The onions as they are pulled are
thrown into every third row, the carrots being left to mature.
By this method from two hundred to six hundred bushels of
carrots are raised per acre in addition to the usual crop of —

4I

onions. More manure is required for the two crops than for
the onions alone.

The Machine used for sowing in drills has two boxes
attached to the axle at equidistance from the wheels; there
are three or four holes in the axle that communicate with the
seed in the boxes, and as these holes pass under the boxes
they are filled with seed, and as they turn the seed are
dropped into the earth. Screws are sunk into the holes,
which can be sunk more or less at pleasure, and the quantity
of seed which the holes will contain is thus graded.

The machine should first be tested and so regulated that
on a barn floor it will drop from eleven to twelve seed from
each hole. When so regulated, on using in the field it will
drop but from seven to twelve, owing to the more uneven
motion.

This, like all sowing machines, and the same may be said
of the scuffle hoe and wheel hoe, is pushed along before the
operator.

My farmer-friends, I have now given you the result of my
own experience in the raising of onions, Potato onions, Top
onions, Shallots, and onion Setts, combined with the experi-
ence in onion growing of a neighborhood where a hundred
thousand bushels are raised annually, with the results of per-
sonal observation in other localities, and with facts that I have
collected by corresmonding with different sections of the
United States.

42
ANALYSIS OF THE ONIONS.

A recent analysis, under the direction of Prof. Goessmar
ot the Massachusetts Agricultural College, gives the following
as the principal constituents of the onion :

Air dry onions without leaves were found to consist of:

Water (at 100° to 110°C.) . 89.20 per cent.
Dry vegetable matter . : : 10.305."

and contained the following amounts of—
Nitrogen : : : 0.212 per cent.
Sulphur . : : 0.048... —<*
Ash Spe os : 456

The percentages of the orice constituents of the ash
were :

Potassium oxide. 38.51 per cent.
Sodium oxide : < Leese
Calcium oxide ; caer
Magnesium oxide . : : ee = Yi hes
Sesquioxide of iron : : Ope, 3%
Silicic acid. ; ; Ee Nanaia
Phosphoric acid. 1550.

Sulphuric acid not determine:

In the above table Potassium oxide, Sodium oxide, Cal-
cium oxide and Magnesium oxide, mean practically pure
Potash, Soda, Lime and Magnesia.

I infer from the table that of the three grand essentials in
manure, Nitrogen, Potash and Phosphoric acid, the onion
requires about equal quantities of the two former and half as
much of the latter.

I trust this contribution will prove acceptable.

JAMES J. H. GREGORY. |
MARBLEHEAD, Mass.

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