The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-07-07
ONION CULTURE IN FLORIDA
Graceful Attention To the Right Va
riety is Essential

III FlOA1ud Nu6re winter SaFueuS
are practicable the onion is grown
with great success and profit Indeed
the Florida grower has several decid-
Ell advantages over those farther
north. The crop is almost free from
insect enemies and from diseases. 1t
is used up, and therefore prices are
pretty sure to be good.
Among northern growers there is
quite a range of varieties to select
from. This is not true at the south.
The Bermuda onion is the only one
that we know of that is at all worth
while cultivating
The onion prefers a rich moist,
loan. 1t can be grown. however. on
the high pine lands of Florida with
fair success, and better still IN the
richer hammock" and someti nes on
the muck lands" The so-called fiat
woods" also give fair crops after the
land is well drained. No man should
undertake onion culture in Florida Or
anywhere else unless he is prepared
to invest literally in fertilizers If he
will not do this he had by all means
better stop before he begins. Barn
yard manure, unless so thoroughly
composed as to kill the seeds of grass
dc &c adxrscm in
culture The manure is all right but
the weeds are ont, and any man who
tries it once and has to do his own
hoeing will become a convert to COM
mercial fertilizers for this crop for
the rest of his natural life.
Choose land that has been in clean
culture for a years or two and is con-
sequently pretty free from weed or
grass seeds; if these are thick in your
onion patch you will have endless
trouble in keeping them subdued.
Plow your land ten inches deep as
early as September, harrow very mel
low and apply your fertilizer at the
rate of a ton per acre. By this early
preparation of the land the weed and
grass seeds are induced to sprout and
the weeds may be destroyed by two
or three civilizations so that they will
modest you very little during the
growth of the onion. II all the trash
seed within a inch or two of the
surface is allowed to terminate theer
will be more trouble TO you until
a new supply can be grown the next
summer or until a fresh lot is turned
mp by the plow
The two great secrets OF onion cul-
ture are. avoid the necessity OF hand
weeding( and 10 make the bulbs grow
large. The above paragraph tells you
how to escape the weeds. The secres
of large bulbs is transplanting This
was the burden OF the New Onion
Culture" by T. Greiner. which made
considerable stir among the northern
gardeners a few years since. If the
grower does not expect to plant over
4 quarter or half acre (and a novice
had better not over-reach himself the
first year,. he had better transplant
his whole crop, sowing his seed in a
specially prepared seed bed.
The seed should be sown in October
in order to have the onions ready the
next spring when the demand is good.
BY sowing in a seed bed and trans
PLANTING one and one-half pound Of
seeds will suffice for an acre, if sown
in the field five or six pounds viii be
required and the difference in the
cost of the seed will help pay for the
extra trouble of TRANSFORMING.
The seed bed. like the rest OF the
field, needs thorough preparation #
the soil, and shows its gratitude for a
liberal supply of fertilizer. Hand or
garden rakes are used to pulverize
thoroughly and level the beds. All
trash should be raked to the edge and
then the back OF the rake should be
used 10 smooth the bed.
\ hard planter is used to plant the
seed and should be set TO plant at
the rate Of fifteen 10 twenty pounds
per acre. The rows should be ten 1r
twelve inches apart Care should -
taken not TO plant the seed too deep.
one-fourth inch Is deep enough. Just
as soon as the beds are planted they
should De well waJered. Great care
is necessary ct this time If the
weather is dry.
Plant about October /. IN seven o.
eight days the onions viii beg:n -
show above the ground and the beds
should be watched closely and kept
moist The onion is Of the lily family
and must have plenty OF water in its
early lie When the plants attain =
height OF two and one-half to three
inches cultivation should begin AMI
every weed be taken out.
When the onions have reached