Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-05
Of The Evening Star.


Perry, ONO, August l. 1891.
The long line Of yellow Lake Shore coaches
whirling along the low southern shore Of blue
Erie carries the traveller through one of the
finest farming regions in the country, and
as one gets hurried glimpses of large
home-like farm houses, with brightly
painted barns and well-kept yards and
orchards, farms carefully titled and dotted
with thrifty vineyards and berry fields
ana maple groves that seem always to invite to
plcnfcklng. one vainly cudgels his think box to
remember more favored bit of the world.
One OF the most beautiful parts of this region
Is the historic Western Reserve of Ohio. so
famous In war time as the home of Ben Wade
and Joshua Giddings and later of the lameuted
Garfield. The reserve has an even dozen of
counties. and If any one Of these is to be given
nrst pace II must be Little Lake" the small
est ana one OF the richest counties in the state,
famed the country over as the home of Gar.
fieit-and the onion.
NEARLY 200, 900 BUSHELS SHIPPED LAST YEAR.
onions! Well, to use that expressive Ameri-
cansm, should smile, or, to be strictly correct.
should weep. Last year this little county
shlpped away OF onions nearly 200. 600 bushels,
and some years, as in 49, has rounded out a full
500, 600. OF these tremendous amounts nearly
half is raised by Perry, the smallest township
OF this smallest county, and where instead Of
the stereotyped "How DIV do?' the happy
granger greets you with Flows your onions!s'
In Perry, no matter where you turn. onion
is king and council too. Field after field, acre
after acre OF them meet the onion-sick visitor
on every band. Onions everywhere and few
soils are SO poor to be sighted. CLAY, gravel.
sand, loan, all do their share but the soil of ali
soils for the onion is the rich black muck. made
by vegetable decay and growing onions of SO
monstrous a size as to be beyond all belief
curious thing about muck is that it will burn
readily when dry, and has been known to burn
to the depth OF foot or more, making it COM
pletely worthless,
sowN IN MARCH.
In the latter part of March the onions are
sown in drills or rows twelve to fifteen inches
apart and in a few weeks are large enough for
the first wedding The rows are gone over with
a Planet, jr.," as the cultivator is called, and
the earth made loose and mellow. Then the
boys fairly swarm to the fields and the patches
are dotted with shavers Of all ages toasting
their bare shins in the broiling sun and weed
ing for dear life. The boys generally use to
help their tired fingers 'weeders" made of
thin strips of STEEL bent in triangular shape
and fastened to wooden handles. With these
the work is lessened by half and the boys lit
orally ''knuckle in" in their haste to get to the
end Of the field. The wedding must be
done over three or four times at least,
the weddings must be doubled and all the BOYS
out of dresses kept on the qui vive fighting the
miserable 'pusley" or purslain, the plague of
all onion fields. Boys OF ten to fifteen are paid
81 to q so day for wedding and in the busiest
times the town must be secured to find boys
enough. In well-regulated fields the weeds are
all gathered and lugged away and great care is
taken lest any 60 to seed.
THE FOES OF THE ONION.
Few crops have more foes than the onion 10
contend with. Often it is attacked by kind of
louise and almost eaten up. The cut worms and
wire worms levy exorbitant toll, too. and show
great energy III collecting it. Besides, a form
OF blight often spreads over the fields and the
thrifty green topt are soon yellow and shriyeled
through all thesc trials the farmer must keep
stout heart, and IL the crop has no serious set
back 1t will be ripe ana ready for pulling" by
the LIST Of September. The pulling is generally
done by hand and the onions left on the ground
till thoroughly dried. Then topping or
SSat.,ng away the Dry tops is in order. and the
so the shears and one at a time |
the onions go into the crates, while the lad |
reckons his probable earnings at the rate of 8 |
to cents a bushel. After this the onions are |
barreled and are ready for the market, and if |
one will alight at the little Perry station at any
time In the fall he will find the quiet little vii
iage hustling with business, and the coopers |
working with might and main to keep the ship |
pers supplied with barrels The onion crop /
alone brought into the county last year over |
went to this little township.
THE VARIABLE MARKET PRICE
Nothing is more variable, however, than the |
market price Of these fragrant treasures. |
have known of their bringing as high as q a |
bushel. Last winter they nearly reached that
figure, while three years ago they would bring
but cents. less than the cost Of handling, and |
many thousand bushels Of choice onions were
carted to the fields and dumped. These, of
course, were extreme years, an average price
being probably from so to IS cents, and the
grower who receives more than a dollar is
lucky. There is great danger in hold
ing over the crop for higher prices, as some
times quite unexpectedly the bottom suddenly
drops out Of the market and prices 60 to smash.
Speculation in onions 10 q source OF profit to
many, but on account Of the sudden fuctua-
lions in prices the successful Spectator should
have the shrewdness Of Wall street and must
keep his weather eye on all the leading markets
unless he wants to be 'scoopsd." BW.
Another Revolution in Dress.
From Good Housekeeping.
A great many ladies are abandoning the
chemise and are wearing only small silk
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