The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-05-06

If you have tears. prepare to shed
them now. At the risk of plagiarism.
this timely warning is given, for truly
this story will excite tears. says the
Delaware Gazette. Moreover, it is
neither a story of sorrow, or pathos
or pity Sentiment has no place in
1t. 1t il to be only tale of onions and
an onion king.
The onion king is a member Of the
house Of representatives. When the
house roll is called he answers to the
name OF John 3. Stambaugh, of Har-
din county. But although he IL a
second-termer and one of the leading
members of the majority party, he is
not generally known in his true ca
pacity as master OF the onion indus
try.
TO John Stambaugh. farmer, onions
spell all that Is wholesome and good.
only last season he raised 10000
bushels of them. enough to set Il
whole city to weeping. Way down In
Texas, where they pride themselves
on the size of their onion crops, John
Stambaugh and his onions are known.
Likewise i'm the far recesses of Maine
are the Stambaugh onions a thing Of
note. Even i'm the effete East, where
onions are rarely spoken in name, the
ouiOn market knows who Stambaugh
Is. when you pronounce him. STAN
baugh stands for onions in all the
big cities, too, FOR his products fairly
Good all the markets. Stambaugh and
his onions are really famous
Ever SINCE 1855 and long before he
ever thought of being a legislator Mr..
Stambaugh has been raising onions
There is marsh up In Hardin coun-
ty, where the Scioto river rises and
which 1t used to flood. When the
Stamoaughs moved there 20 years ago.
the muck covered the marsh in some
places six feet deep. Horses used to
sink In II and would have TO be pried
out. Wagons also went down often
times without warning.
Then the drainage began and the
water eventually seeped away. But the
marsh is still soft and soggy and there
is where John Stambaugh and others
raise their onions. In the soft, yield-
ing earth onions will grow almost
without provocatlon. The roots dive
easily down into the marshy ground
and they thrive as do ducks in water.
Representative Stambaugh has 100
acres of such marshy land and every
season he devotes an entire 40 acres
OF 1t to his beloved onions. There
isn't a type of onion in the onion cate
CORY that he hasn't at one time or
other raised Even with the natural
environment favorable, he coaxes his
product to grow through artificial
means. The whole 20 acres he had
scientifically drained so that too much
dampness won't interfere. And all
through the season he nurses his crop.
Last season everything was favor
able to the best crop the 20 acres ever
produced Even John Stambaugh was
surprised when his onions began to
grow so recklessly that he feared they
would wage among themselves "A war
of determination. But they didf't eX-
terminate themselves They only
crowded one another a trihe in their
hurried rivalry and when the crop
was finally harvested the total result
was 10000 bushels. And they found
their way TO every nook and corner
OF the country where onions are eaten.
IT'S just natural onion land" says
Mr., Stambaugh in explaining his on
ion prodigy. "Onions can't help grow
ing there when you plant them"
The onion king can tell you all
about how they raise onions In Texas,
and he has 10 smile I'm relating how
he invades even the Texas market
with the Ohio onion. Down in Texas
they irrigate to raise onions. Some
times they have to spend thousands
of dollars to irrigate "A few acres. II
is this cost Of irrigation that allows
the Ohio onion TO compete with the
Texas onion on the latter's own
ground. Up In Hardin county the Sci