Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1912-06-20
ONION is PROFITABLE
Large Yield Depends Greatly on
Quality of Seed.
Should Be Planted in Rows Between
irrigation Burrows - Cultivation
Should Be More or Less Con-
tinuous From Start

6By E. r. BENNETT. Colorado. Agricul
turel CollegeD
No crop offers greater possibilities
for large return per acre than does
the onion. On the other hand. few. il
any, crops cost more per acre to pro-
duce than the onion. For this reason
the onion should not be planted with
the expectation of financial returns ex-
cept where soil and climate are well
adapted to its culture
The onion will grow on most any
soil. but the loamy bottom land soils
or the sandy loan soils OF the mesas
are best adapted to its growth. As
the cultivation is largely by hand. the
soil must be especially prepared in
order to bring the amount OF labor
down to the minimum. Probably the
best preparation for onion soils is to
grow some hoed crop, such as beets.
cabbage. potatoes, etc. on the land
previous to the onion crop. Then. the
land should be thoroughly fortified by
the use of from fifteen TO thirty tons
OF we'll decomposed stable manure per
acre. and is best fall plowed. This
gives the frost of winter a chance to
slake the soil and make a perfect seed
bed and also allows the sowing of seed
earlier in the spring than where
spring blowing is practiced
Several varieties are grown. The
one that is most common is a selected
strain OF Yellow Danvers. Yellow
Globe and Red Globe A great deal
OF the art in securing a large yield de
pends upon the quality of the seed 1t
has been found IN some districts that
home grown seed from selected bulbs
Is TO be preferred to seed secured from
eastern seedsmen or from foreign
markets
The seed should be sown as early in
spring as possible, in drills from ten
to eighteen inches apart The usual
practice. in districts where flooding of
the ground Is Objectionable. is first, to
prepare the soil so as to secure as fine
seed ID as possible by continuous
narrowing and leveling or floating
When the soil IS thoroughly prepared.
a marker is used, composed of three or
four legs attached to a horizontal
piece Of timber. and this is drawn by
hand across the field These marks
are about twenty-six inches apart.
The marks are followed by a small
hand plow. which makes burrows for
the irrigation. Following the furrow-
ing. the seeding is done by running a
garden seed drill so as to put two
rows Of onions in the space between
the irrigation burrows. Some growers
make these rows so that the two rows
will be about ten inches apart with
fourteen TO eighteen inches space be-
tween the rows. in which the irriga-
ton ditch is to be kept.
From three and a half to four
pounds of seed are used per acre. The
seed Is sown about one-half inch deep,
or just sufficiently deep to avoid rains
from washing the seed out of the row.
After sowing. the soil is kept moist
by irrigation, if sufficient rain does
not follow. so that the plants will not
be prevented from growing from lack
of moisture. This condition is main
tanned until the onion is practically
mature or until the tops begin to fall.
which should be some time in August.
Cultivation should be more or less
continuous from the time plants show
above ground until irrigation ceases.
Some growers make a practice OF cul- !
tivating the land once each week. This !
cultivation should be with either a
wheel hoe or the so-called hand cul-
tivator. The onion is a more or less
shallow feeder. so that cultivation
should only be to depth of from one
inch to an inch and a half or two
inches. From two to three hand weed
ings are usually necessary. Up to the
present time. thinning has not been
practiced, although it is
quite possible that a certain amount |
of thinning would be advisable
Growers vary considerably in their !
estimates of the cost of growing. This |
is probably not far from 800 to $3.50 |
per acre. The yields obtained on the |
soils that are adapted to the cultiva-
ton of the onion are from $50 to $50 |
sacks of two bushels each
From five to eight acres is all that
one person can possibly expect to care
for during the season.