The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-25

! ,n~ .he erop is performed by Mexieans l 1-hs vor< does not begin until the lat l fer nart of September. when the 1 weather is beginng to get cooler. The | onions grow during the winter, and by | the early part of April they are ready to begin harvesting
 Onions require large amount .oi water, and they can be grown here only by means of irrigation. During the first sixty days they must be watered every day, and after that one watering a week must be given them. The harvest Is finished by the time the
 heat of summer begins. The Laredo
 onion farmers enjoy life during the three or four months that their land Is idle. Many of them visit the sum ner resorts of the North and East
 where they escape the torrid heat of
 Texas summer.
 Laredo Is one of the few towns in
 the United States which felt no effect of the recent financial disturbance. The banks are overfow wing with money derived from the onion crop; the mer- chants are prosperous. and the laborers are in better shape financially than ever before In the history of the town
 The pioneer onion grower is T. c. Wye. He began experimenting in growing onions about ten years ago. Other men followed him, and in 1900 about fifty acres were planted In onions in the vicinity of Laredo. There has been a steady increase of acreage ever since.
 one element in the success of the onion farmers is the fact that they have formed an association which among other things markets the crop to advantage. The overcrowding of a market is not permitted. By follow ing this method top prices are obtained. Last season shipments were made to ninety cities in the United States and Canada. This year many new cities will be added to the list.
 This organization for mutual benfit has saved money to the onion growers In another way. The sales agents, Roy Campbell, and some of the members of the association reached the conclu- ion that they were paying tooo much for seed. It was decided to send MT. Campbell to the Canary Islands, where Bermuda onions are grown extensively. to investigate the matter.
 MT. Campbell made the trip last summer. He purchased direct from the growers in the Canary Islands 7,5oo pounds of seed sufficient to plant 1,50o. He paid s1.1o 8 pound for the white Bermuda seed and $1,50 a pound for the crystal wax. The growers heer had been paying $2.25 and s4.5o pound for the same seeds, purchased of seed houses in this country.
 While Laredo is by far the largest onion growing district in Texas con- siderable attention is being given the industry In the vicinity of Brownsville, Hida1go. Cotulla and Carrizo Springs
 The flavor of the Laredo onion Is unlike that of an onion grown In the Bermuda Islands or anywhere else. It has a delicious taste and the flavor is so mild that onions are eaten freely by the people here like an apple or peach It is said by the local health authori- ties that onion growing and onion eat ing have greatly reduced the death rate in Laredo.
 In addition to the enormous money revenue in actual cash which the crop brings to the people of Laredo each year the industry has caused a mare- lous increase in land values. Any of the valley lands in the vicinity of Lar cod could be bought for ten or twelve years ago for $1 an acre. All this raw land is being rapidly placed fn culti- vation, and 1t sells readily for from $75 to $10o an acre.