Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-05-02
Things You Want to Know
The 0dorous
Onion

trau~plantcd onions. In one case the trans
planted bulbs Welded ~ bushels To- tho
acre. while those not trausplaptcd yielded
only GIG bushels 20 the acre At the Ten.
aessce experiment station transplantcd
onions yielded ~ bushels 20 the acre. a.
compared with sS bushels whore they
mere not transplauted In the experiment
Of the North Dakota station the trans
planted onions yielded -four times as much
% the acre as the direct seedlings
one would expect the onion TO be sim
gularly free from she rayaSes Of insect
lie. But such IS not the case The tiny
onion thrIp Is very fond W ibc puugcut
juice " Tho growing top. 10 which It's bite
Is fatal various kinds ~ cutworms also
are destructive to tho onion. There are
rumbei Of fungus diseases Witch attack
the onion and some % them work great
harm in extensive onion fields
Ia many cases the 0a.1E Is Erowu moro
for The seed than Tor the onion Itself In
California there are many extensive fields
devoted 20 the graWiue % the seed. When
this seed H. sufficiently Tip. Chinese la
bo-ers 80 through the fields and gather
the Rcads into large bass The seed 10
carried TO some central point. where So Is
spread out to dry. 10 is afterward
ll.Ii SUeN llInNuAu an ONION AtAESttta4h llAtA-
chine and the seed Is washed and dried
again. II is necessary that the land on
which onion seed Is grown shall be ca
,cedingN fertile ana free from all noN-
ioIs weeds The onion grower using the
new method has felt seriously the need
o. an onion transpanter. Many efforts
have been made TO solve the problem Of
trAnsplantng, but without success. How
ever. in the matter OF harvesting sue
ctssful header has been found.
The harvest comes when the tops are all
wiltCd to the ground. Dry weather is
very desirable as long as the pulled on
ions are left on the ground 70 cure. when
they have been allowed Co remain in the
sun for a week they are gathered into a
large storage house much Ike the familiar
cnrncrib. They possess a great advantage
over apples and many other fruits which
must he marketed shortly after maturity,
BY proper methods the farmer may keep
his onions until he considers the market
high enough 70 warrant their sale.
\ well known writer on onion subjects
says that he has frequently grown more
than thousand bushels TO the acre. To
do this has cost him Sooo per acre. A
thousand bushels at 20 cents q bushel
brings rim in $3.50. thus leaving a net
profit OF $50 He thinks that in we'll
! irrigated land a l.5oo- bushel crop is posi-
/ bic.
Massachusetts long has held the record
. fo- acre production Of onions While not
Is well favored with natural soil fertility
as many other states its onion growers
[ have produced an average crop twice as
/ large per acre as have those OF many
much more fertile states, This lesson OF
careful intensive cultivation is also borne
out in other crops and shows the possibr-
/ lily OF the future when farming becomes a
profession.
There are many different varieties OF
onions some Of them being produced by
/ division OF the bulb. some from top sets
/ and some from black seed. The best
/ known, Of course, of all the varieties are
the Bermuda and Spanish onions. They
are very much milder than the other va
rieties and are not usually grown for
spring onions. Another kind OF onion is
the Barletta This is small onion used
/ for picking purposes II sells for about
I 8 a bushel in the wholesale market.
. Housewives often complain OF the trouble
they have in cleaning these little onions,
but il is said that Il the roots, tops and
tail are placed N weak brine for a day
/ or two all of the refuse win wash away
and there will be neither hard work nor
/ shedding of tears in the preparation Of
the pickles.
/ 1t is not to be expected that onion grow
: ing may be converted into a source of
I profit by the thousands Of Farmers who
are growing wheat and corn and other
/ less profitable crops today II there
| should he a stampede to onion growing
because Of the bonanza profits in it the
] l.. ,rI,a
and corn would become more profitable
than others.
By Frederic J. HAsKIH.
MISUNDERSTANDING Paper.