The Cairo bulletin., 1910-02-09
oNloE FERTILIZER HINTS.

Onions should not be rlan' I'd on the
same r.ece os land year AFTER year
nd some system Of crop rotation
hould be maintained. according to
4rmers b2i!etln 354 OF the United
states de1artment OF agriculture. Cars
should be aiken, however. TO use
ao1s IN The rotation that Win not be
exhaustive OF the high fertility neces-
sary in the onion land Daring the
yeare when he land is nor devoted
20 ohloEs II can he planted 10 some
truck crop that VIII give return
mat will Justify the application OF
large quantities of fertilizers or. bet
ter, to a lesuminous crop TO be turned
under as green manure Continuous
cropping with onions will cause the
land to become infested with both dis
| ease and insect enemies that VIII
sooner or later inirre the crop to such
an extent as to render II un Improbable
| AS the onion is an intensive crop and
| yields great quantities OF marketable
bulbs for the area planted, the grower
| Is just fled in mannring heavily. II
would be difficult indeed to make tbs
soil too rich for onions provided tbs
manures are thoroughly incorporated
with the soil A neayy application OF
fresh raw manure just before planting
would have an injurious effect, but
where the manure is well rotted ant
uniformly applied there is nothing &c
be feared
There is perhaps no fertilizer sc
well adapted to the production OF on.
ions as plenty OF clean well-compost.
ed stable manure, and the quality and
frequency of application viii depend
upon the nature of the land under
cultivation. The Bermuda onion grow
ers OF southwestern Texas apply az
much 10 tons OF sheep and goat manure
to ar acre every three years In ad
dition to the manure there is uscd
1000 to 200o pounds OF cotton-seec
meal or commercial fertilizer, arc
sometimes a top-dressing of nitrate
of soda, This sheep and goat manure
Is from animals that are fed largely
upon cotton-see meal Is saved In the
corrals in climate where there il
very little rain, and 1t contains the
essential fertilizing ingredients in very
high percentages. The manure Is first
piled where a little water can be
several months before spreading a
the land The best results from this
manure are not realized until the
second or even the third year after it.
application.
All stable manure used on onion
land should be well composted before
use and then spread upon the laud
several months before planting 10 on
ions In the northern states The ma
nure may be applied during the an
tumn and we'll dlsked into the soil
The land can then be allowed to lie
In the rough state and exposed to the
action OF frost during the winter, or II
can be smoothed and seeded to rye In
which case it will be necessary to re-
pillow during the early springtime. In
the Bermuda district the manure
should be applied during the spring
time and the land kept frequently
stirred during the summer months,
with occasional irrigations In order tt
assimilat3 the manure and destroy
weeds: the planting Is not done unt I
the autumn. Another practice in the
Bermuda district Is to apply fresh na
tons to the acre during the spr!nq
months, then plant the corn and cnl
tivate through the early summer. and
add top-dressing % well-rotted ma
nure after blowing TIE land for onions
in the autumn. This top-dressuq
should be well worked into the sou
by means of disk harrows. Large
quantities Of fresh manure applied tC
onion land just before planting will
have tendency to produce an over
growth Of tops at the expense OF the
bulbs This is especially true Of IT.
rigated lands and soils that are nat
urally moist.
Where there Is an abundance Of
humus matter in the soil the onion
crop will be greatly benefited by mod
crate applications Of high-erade com.
ncrcial fertilizers fertilizer that
Il suited 10 the ssayiug Of potatoes
will serve quite Ne. for on.cns, but
the potash should n rhaps b" suppl
| in the form of muriate rather han OF
sulphate A fertilizer adapted TO Nc
growing OF onions should contain five
per cent of nitrogen, five to seven pei
cent OF phosphorit acid, and eight ID
10 per cent potash, A fertilizer OF
| this character will cost s38 10 $40 q
ton and can be profitably applied at
| the rate of 1000 pounds to the acre on
| most soils Where very intensive cui-
ture Is practiced 1t may be profitable
to apply as much as a ton To the acre
in addition to stable manure.