Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-06
THE BEEyrrDi 0NIox IN yExAs.


Do you think the famous Bermuda onion,
raised on the Bermuda islands, and now 50
common on the early Mort heaStcru markets.
could be made 10 succeed in this southern
portion Of Texas! II so, please lei, Us all
about IL and now they cultivate II up In
the Bcrnulas. i suppose l. IS unnecessary
for me to offer an apology for iutrudinC
upon your time aud patience, since l see
that everybody IS after You for Informal
tiou, and that you are not kicking III the
traces about il. Q. {. STORES.
Cameron county, Tex
No kind of apology IS due us-,he more
the merricr
The Bermuda onou, 50 called. gets The
name from being extensively grown on the
Bermuda islands and thence shipped TO this
country: but the name is a misnomcr. for it
is really French onion, known il that
country rs the Madeira. No onion seeds
are raised on the Bermulas. and all the
onions raised there are from seeds Of the
Madeira variety imported from the south
Of France JOemIerl. SO then, as You see,
the famous Bermuda onions are nothing
more nor less than Bermuda-g~own French
Madeira onions.
We are satisfied that the Madeira onion
lor Bermuda onion, if goa prefer to call it
by that nance, would succeed to perfection
in Southern Texas, and we are by nomeans
sure that it would not succeed i'll all parts
of the state. especially naturalization. In
the southern part Of the state the cropcouId
doubtless be crown 10 put upon the market
il full competition with the crops from
Bermuda. We can see no kind of good rea-
son against this. Florida IS making a sue
cess of the variety, and certainly South
Texas, with her decidedly bnltcr soil advau-
tages, and with equal climatic advantages,
could do more with it than Florida IS doing.
1t would be best TO order seed direct from
France. as the seed OF the onion is Of short
life. Seed more than one year old would
DE rather unreliable, aud hence unless the
grower got his seed direct from head
quarters ne would stand very fair chance
of finding himself monkeying with unreli-
able seed.
Fall would be your time for sowing the
seed-say il November-but you might get
good crops by sowing as late as January.
The soil best adapted to the crop is 4 deep,
rich, friable mould, full of vegetable mat
ter The river and creek bottoms of Texas,
where naturally well drained, would suit
the MADEIRA onion to the highest degree.
Heavy land, deficient in decomposcd veg
etablc matter, is not well adapted to the
crop, as the bulbs would be comparatively
small and would have a more pungent or
fiery taste.-(Oemler)
Although the onion is a shallow-rootod
plant it requires that the land for it should
be deeply broken and thoroughly pulver-
lied. Sow on narrow lands ten or twelve
feet wide, drilling the seed in rows fifteen
inches apart. Roll lightly after sowing. In
fair weather the plants ought to be up in
about two weeks.
The thing indispensable for success with
the onion is clean but shallow culture. Go
over the ground often with rakes OF other
suitable implements and keep the surface
mellow. Never allow weeds or grass to
start in the rows-pull them out by hand as
soon as they appear. When the young
plants are established thin down to about
four inches apart in the row, if you desire
large and fine bulbs-three inches apart
would give heavier yield but the bulbs
would not be so large OemlerJ The
plants taken out in thinning may, if the
weather is favorable, be transplauted to
other beds, where they will do almost as
well as those of the original sowing The
roots should be put down straight and the
plants set a little deeper than they were
growing before removal
In harvesting, the onions are simply |
pulled by hand at ripeness, and left upon
the ground day or two to dry, after which
they are gathered and the necks cut of |
with sharp knife, when they are ready to !
pack for market.