The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-09

In this state all onions grown successful
ly are planted in the fall, and only the seei
is used, says the Fruit Grower, To plant
top-onions is only a waste of time; they
will form excessively large clumps of
roots which will cling to the ground so
tcnaciously as to allow the tops 10 be torn
off before they will yield; yet the bulbs
will be scarcely larger than the necks. An
other point of difference is that in Florl la
it is not worth while TO experiment win
anything else besides the Bermuda variety,
either red or white, preferably the white.
The seed of this very valuable, but very
peculiar, onion must be grown in one par
tlcular part of the world, that is Teneride,
and nowhere else. The utmost pains
should be taken to secure genuine Bermu-
da seed; Italian and California seed Is
sometimes put upon the unsophisticated
purchaser for Bermuda seed, but it is
fraud; they wiz not by any means rem 1er
an equivalent
Another point of the greatest import
ance in raising onions in F orida is to have
the bufbs grown wholly above the surface.
This is just as necessary to secure a long
keeping and well-havored bulb as ii is
with the Irish potato to grow it wholly
under ground. If any part of the bulb is
covered with earth or even too much
that will be a tender spot and if rot at
tacks the bulb during the rainy season It
win be on that one tender Place.
The regular classified crop of Teneriffe
seed is monopolized in Florida by one firm
and can be obtained only from them, and
not before oct l. Genuine Bermuda seed
can be purchased from other dealers in
September, but it Will be mixed, red and
white together, though this will be no Sc
rious objection, if only a family garden is
desired. For the sake of eariiness, which
is a point of first-class importance in a
crop to be shipped North, the grower could
well afford to SOW red and white together,
field.
| Soil.-The soil for the onions should be
about the same as selected for the straw
berry-hammock or fatwoods. good
( grade of piny woods land will produce
/ even finer onions, firmer and better keep
/ ing than the lower moister lands, but
/ this requires irrigation un.ess the rainfall
/ should happen to be unusually abundant.
! The onion requires plenty of water, but 1t
! should come and go without lingering.
! Especially should it be free from the drip
! Of trees or grass. growth of grass
! springing W around the bulbs in the lat
| Ter Stages of their. growth will stunt and
/ dwarf them beyond belief The onion
wants Unrestricted sunshine, with light
| showers quickly passing away. The hot
! and almost cloudless skies Of Egypt, Spain
and Ell Paso, Tex. develop the finest on
! ions in the world A hammock or a
/ muck-bed, especially the first two or three
! years after being cleared, will produce de-
| formed bulbs, splitting into a number of
/ sections, unsighty and irregular with
| soft spots between them which harb0r
moisture and make it almost imposs BILE
to keep them through the rainy season.
! On the other hand, a soil containing due
| admixture of sand win produce onions of
a beautiful regularity, every one as round
as a dollar, firm, heavy in the hand, and
/ with a skin as smooth end glossy as if
/ polished. These can be kept through our
trying Florida summer, in the right kind
of a place, with little loss.
Fertilzer.-The onion is heavy feeder
and delights in rich soil or liberal fer
tilizing; in fuct it must have these to pro-
duce a paying crop. But there is no sta
pie which is more injured in flavor and
! keeping qualities by an excess of organic
/ nitrogen or animal manures. Potash and
salt develop a firm, crisp flesh and ar
| agreeable navor-an onion which will re-
s.st decay. Ashes and SCOT are beneficial
I charcoal dust or sand is an excellent APP
plication, if the soil is anywise tenacious
or inclined 10 run together" Common
| salt, at the rate of six or eight bushels
per acre, is very beneficial to this class Of
plants There are special onion brand:
| made by several of the reputable dealers
| in chemical fertilizers, containing 10 oil
y per cent. of potash, which can be rec.
! ommended,-FruitG Grower.