Tuesday, November 17, 1903.
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER
3
Growing Onions in the South.
Editor of The Progressive Farmer : .
Years ago it was thought that
onions could not be grown from the
seed in the South in one season, as
they are grown in the North, and
it was the general practice to depend
on sets purchased from the .North
for growing the crop. It is now
known that fully as good crops of
onions may be grown in one season
in the South as in the North, and
that the use of sets is only necessary
for fall planting to grow early grown
onions for bunching.
The difficulty formerly encounter
ed in the growing of onions in the
South came from too close following
of the directions of Northern writ
ers on gardening and ignoring the
fact that the onion needs cool weath
er for its development. Seed sown
in the South at the time recommend
ed by the Northern writers will make
gets, but not good onions, since the
plants are overtaken by the hot
weather and ripen up before fully
grown.
VARIETIES OF ONIONS.
In the growing of onions we must
also understand the differences be
tween the various classes of onions
grown. The Spanish and Italian
varieties have been developed in
warm climates-and will grow to a
larger size in the South than others
developed in colder climates. The
only difficulty with these is that they
must be disposed of early in the sum
mer, as they are all poor keepers. A
difference, too, should be made in
the manner of growing them. Some
years ago a Northern garden writer
advocated what he called the new
onion culture. This is simply the
sowing of the seed in winter under
glass and transplanting early in the
spring in the permanent location.
Experiments have shown that while
this method is well suited to the
Spanish and Italian varieties, it
makes little difference with the
American sorts that arc grown sof
largely for market. The Prize-taker
a large yellow Spanish onion, suc
ceeds best by the transplanting
method. Here we sow the seed in a
cold frame protected by glass sashes
in early January. By carefully
hardening off the plants and gradual
ly exposing them to the air, they
can be set in the open ground the
latter part of February. The bed
is carefully prepared in the fall and
ell manured with stable manure, to
hieh is added at rate of a ton per
acre, a mixture of 900 pounds of acid
phosphate, TOO pounds of dried blood
and 400 pounds of muriate of pot-ash-
This is well mixed with the soil
early in September, and the first of
October the bed is planted to lettuce.
It is necessary to apply the fertili
zer with so large a percentage of
Ptash in it nearly a month before
planting, so that the caustic nature
of the potash may not injure the
roots of the lettuce. The lettuce is
tot and sold by the first week in
puary, and the frame is then used
r the onion seed without any fur
r fertlization.
Tke land into which the plants
are to be set should-be plowed well
in the fall, and will be all the bet
ter is of a sandy loam character. In
February it is replowed and put in
fine order. If the crop is gTown on
a large scale the rows should be wide
enough for horse culture, say two
and a half feet. Eun out furrows
and apply in them 1,000 pounds per
acre of the same fertilizer mixture
advised for the lettuce. Turn two
furrows over the first one, making
a ridge. Roll this down nearly level
and set the plants three inches apart
in the row, only fairly covering the
roots and bulk, so that the onion;
when formed, will be on the general
surface of the soil. In' this' way the
Prizetaker onion can be grown as
large as the imported ones found in
crates in the stores. Of course the
cleanest of culture must be adopted
and the earth pulled away from the
bulbs as they enlarge so that the bulb
forms on top of the ground. An
onion entirely in the ground will not
attain the size of one sitting on the
surface.
As I have said, this crop needs to
be disposed of early, as this variety
will not keep well. But coming into
market at a time when ripe onions
are scarce, they usually bring a fancy
price. In fact, the imported Spanish-grown
ones retail at the stores
for five cents each, and fully as large
ones can be grown here in a suitable
soil and with culture.
For an onion crop to cure and
keep, we must adopt a different
method. I would promise that the
onion is different from many other
crops in the fact that it likes to be
kept on the same land year after
year, and no matter how well the
soil is prepared or how highly fer
tilized, the first crop grown on it
will not be as. large as subsequent
crops on the same land if the fertli
zation is kept up annually, and a
crop of cbw-peas is grown on the land
after the onions are off and turned
under in the late fall. By following
fhis plan, and with liberal use of
fertilizers, the onion crop will in
crease in amount year after year.
THE IMPORTANT POINTS.
The important points to be ob
served are early sowing and the use
of the right varieties. Onions like
a light sandy soil, and such a soil
in the South can be worked at any
time in winter. In the first place
see to the seed. Get seed from a reli
able dealer and be sure that it is fresh,
for onion seed lose their vitality very
rapidly after they are a year old.
Prepare the land as advised for the
transplanted onions and make the
rows in the same way and use the
same amount of fertilizer. The seed
can be sown on the flattened ridges
with garden seed drill. The best of
all onions for this crop we have
found, by careful experiment with a
number of varieties, is the Southport
White Globe. A round onion always
measures Jbetter and yields heavier
than a flat 'one. This variety of
onions is as round as a base-ball and
of an attractive collor.
FERTILIZING.
Sow the .seed as early as. practica
ble in February, so that the crop
will -have as long va period of cool
weather in which to make its growth
I as possible, for when the great heat
of the late June comes here, they
will ripen and stop growing, hence
they must be made before that time.
The same clean culture and the same
pulling away of the earth as the
bulbs form, as advised for the trans
planted crop, must be used. It will
be far better if the large amount of
fertilizer . used 'be anplied several
weeks before planting. I. have ad
vised dried blood as a source of am
monia, because if cottonseed meal
be used, the amount must be in
creased to get the large percentage
of ammonia needed and the cotton
seed meal has a dangerous fashion of
causing a mould growth that destroys
seeds and plants in contact with it.
I once lost nearly my entire crop
of frame lettuce from using cotton
seed meal heavily. It made a fungus
that caused the plants to rot off at
the surface. Dried blood is better
and has a higher percentage of am
monia: During the growth of the
crop, arf application of nitrate of
soda alongside the rows will help
greatly, for the manurial needs of the
onion crop are mainly for nitrogen
and potash.
Now a word as to curing and keep
ing onions. Pull them when the tops
turn yellow and let them lie a day
or-so in. the sun, but not in any
rain, put into the warmest place at
hand. Upon the roof of a barn is
a good place to cure them. Keep
the tops on and never remove them
till you are going to sell or use them,
as they keep better with the tops on.
When perfectly dry remove them to
a cool place and spread -them out.
A little freezing in winter will do
less harm than a warm place to keep
fhem after curing. I have kept them
on a barn floor all winter. For a yel
low onion, use the New Opal, which
is one of the best keepers. For a red
onion, the Wethersfield red is as
good as any.
W. F. MASSEY.
Wake Co., N. C.
Mr. B. S. Montf ord, of New Han
over County, has been spending some
time in Monroe with his sister, Mrs.
Antoinette Beasely. Mr. Montf ord is
a truck farmer, located five miles
from Wilmington. "I had a lettuce
bed in the early spring," said he,
"comprising less than one-eighth of
an acre. I sold the lettuce from it
for $125, shipping it to Philadelphia.
On less than two acres, embracing
this bit, I then planted Irish pota
toes, selling my crop vf or $120, most
of which was also shipped to Phila
delphia. On. the same ground I then
planted corn." That is the way the
truck growers of the East farm, and
that section is destined to become
very rich. Monroe Journal.
rWhat we require," said the man
aging editor, "is the services of a
man capable of taking full charge of
our 'Query Box.' Are you capable
of answering all kinds of questions?"
Well, I rather guess so," replied the
applicant. 'Tm the father of eleven
children." Chicago News.
Buying Chssp Sefids is 41 Penny Wlss,
" Pound Foolish."
The new and enlarged seed-testing"
laboratory at Washington conducted
by the Government is a busy insti
tution this season. Dr. Frederick V .
Coville says that the use of poor seed
causes a loss of many millions of
dollars annually to American farm
ers. The Government is making ex
tensive tests of seeds so that agricul
turists may buy to advantage and
plant with foreknowledge, lhose
who have no facilities at home for de
termining the value of seeds may
send samples to Washington, where
they will be tested in the laboratory
find Tfvnnrts -frtrxxrarrlpA tr the fflrr-ner;
The price of seed by the pound or
busheMs by no means a criterion of
value, for, asicle from the introduc
tion of noxious weeds from impure
and crop returns by planting infer
tile seeds is sometimes very great.
In one instance a farmer paid $3.50
for a bushel of clover seed, weighing
sixty pounds; he thought he was get-
ting it' cheap. Laboratory tests show
ed that he had only twenty-seven and
three-quarter pounds of good seed;
the rest would not germinate and was
of course a dead loss. The farmer,
therefore, paid at the rate of $7.57
a bushel for his clover seed. Not
only was he paying an exorbitant
price, but he would have wasted his
time and his land in sowing seed the
greater part of which would not have
sprouted.
The seed industry in the United
States has grown' to enormous pro-
portions, .txunureus oi inousanas oi
acres are devoted to seed raising.
Some of the warehouses cover an
area of from five to ten acres.. Mil
lions of packets of seed are sent out
annuallv. Soma firms receive about
10,000 orders a day. That the Gov
ernment stands ready promptly o
test seeds for American farmers, so
. . y
for aa its lnVnrsitrrv -f or-?liifa Ttrill
nermi't. is. therfvfnre. n -matter JYvf
great public interest. A
Many millions of dollars are in
volved annually in the seed trade ipf
America. " v
Among other things the Govern
ment is interested in keeping the
seeds of the dodder from getting root
in American soil. The danger of the
spread of this pest is great. A single
dodder will attack and destroy one
clover plant after another, until it
has established its malign dominion
over an area of several square feet.
The Department seeks to impress up
on farmers the false economy m sav
ing a few cents per acre on seed
and as a result stocking the land
VTr A LAX UCatl UUUVC WCCU3( JLXL VL JJ.UXU.-
ber of samples of red clover seed
tested in the laboratory, over 20,000
seeds of weeds found to the pound,
and one lot the number of weed seeds
to the pound was 27,700, mostly green
foxtail and plantain.
The beet-sugar industry has grown
to such proportions and the value of
securing good seed is so urgent that
the Bureau of Plant Industry has
made snecial arrangements to make
tests on an extensive scale of sugar-
beet seed for purity and germination,
and also- to make delicate moisture
determinations. - " .
This" service is rendered without
charge. When moisture determina
tions are wanted, the samples must
be sent in glass or tin air-tight pack
ages. Saturday Evening Irost.