Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1912-09-06
SUCCESSFUL ONION GROWING
Valuable Pointers From One Who
Has Had Experience
Written for the News-Budget k
James Farley.

4 Written for the News Budget by
James Farley.
| AS the onion crop in Rusk coun-
| ty is much lar.er than ever before,
and the net results promise to be
very pleasing. it will no doubt act
as an incentive to others to plant
this most profitable plant next sea-
SON.
The growers in this section are
not experienced onion growers, the
writer himself included. That is, we
had no experience last spring. But
thanks to perseverance, we have
stored up an abundance Of that COM
modify Being one who never hides
his light, we wish to give the pros
pective grower of next year syn
opsis of that which he will need to
do Also. for those who wonder that
onions cost so much; Or you who
have ordered beefsteak smothered in
onions and when the waiter placed
them before you you wondered why
why the cook didn't smother the
steak some more. To these we say:
Plant and cultivate one or more acres
of onions next season and wonder no
more.
We sowed ~ acres last spring
and up to this time have been the
sole caretaker The following is
what you will have to do in order
to get experience as we did:
You will have to plow, harrow,
rake and get your seed bed in the
best possible shape. You then SOW
YOUR seed and watch for three weeks
for the seed to prove it's good quail
tiles. Before this you will see numer-
GUS weeds that are less sluggish in
growth than the onion is, but you
cannot disturb them as you may at
the same time disturb the onion.
Therefore, you must wait until the
onion makes it's appearance.
Then you start to cultivate by
pushing one of the improved garden
tools. This is easy and good deal
like pushing a go-cart, but does not
emit the occasional and varied mu-
steal notes that sometimes comes
from the interior of the latter vehlc-
lie. If you plant the rows two inches
apart, you will push this tool for a
distance of about eight miles in cul-
tivating one acre. BY this time the
weeds between the onions in the
row need attention. You now have
to get down on your hands and
knees. Of you have had practice IN
the kneeling part, so much the bet
teri. With your hand weeder, pro-
coed to amputate the weeds that if
allowed to grow will smother the on
ions more effectually than the cook
smothers the steak.
This is an important part of on
ion-growing and can only be done by
placing one knee each side ofthe on
ion row and pulling or cutting the
IWeeds This may seem a hard task
to some If so, don't attempt to
grow onions as a get-rich scheme.
We take delight in doing this work.
In fact, we look on it as more of a
summer outing than labor. Up to
fp0x
hands and knees oyer twelve miles
with several laps yet to make. And
vet we expect to double our acre
age next year.
After you have finished the last
l row of your acre, you take look
at your first row you worked and
you will wonder if you did not miss
! that row and those near 1T, as the
weeds seem as when you commenced.
However, you at least have the
| pleasure Of knowing that you can
| commence and cut some more.
| AS to the financial end, we will
let you know when the crop is dis
! posed Of. From present indications,
we feel safe in saying that the re-
turns will be ample for the labor
expended.
i AS we said above, we had had no
experience in growing onions until
| this season. and the season being
late we cannot look for the heav-
| lest yield, but we are led to believe
that it is not necessary to go to
| Texas or any OTHER state to grow
onions, as Rusk county and the vi
cinity of Conrath in particular, will
produce onions equal if not superior
to any of the so-called onion states.
From the foregoing, it may appear
| to some that we have an Over-abun-
dance Of weeds. Not SO, however.
1t is true we have weeds, but no