El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-13


set Out in March.
State College. y. NJ, Feb. ia
bulletin issued by the experiment sta
ton says that wherever the winter is
not severe enough to kill little onion
seedlings, il is better to grow the onion
crop by the transplanting E.ethod. To
do this the seed should be planted IN
field seed beds from the 25th OF Sep
TENDER to the 10th Of October When
planted at this time of the year the
seed terminates well and the small
plants make, as a rule, pretty good
growth before the very cold weather
comes on. During the colder part OF
December and January the little onion
seedlings do not make any top growth,
but they get quite stOcky- As soon as
the warm spells of February and
earlier March set in the little onions
start growing very fast and as a rule
they are large enough for transplant
ing to the field by the 18th to the goth
of March The earlier the onions are
transplanted to the field, other condl-
tons remaining favorable. the better
the results. Onions not larger than
twice the size of a match can be trans
planted and they will grow satiSfac-
tOrily; in fact it is better to transplant
them early, even II they are. not as
large as is Sometimes recommended 1t
is not necessary to follow the old rule
that an onion Seeding shall be the size
of a lead pencil before tranSplantlnS
COmes-Which is about the 18th to the
Both of March-it would be better to
transplant them, even if they are quite
small
Transplant the onions four inches IN
the row and u to Is inches between
the rows. Make the rows as straight
as possible. 1t is a good plan to cut
the tops off when transplantlnS them,
but 1t is not necessary to trim the
roots. Better time can be made in
transplanting il a boy drops the onions
ahead of those tranSplantlng. One boy
can drop IaSL enough Tor two trans
planters. Immediately after the onions
are transplanted, they should be irri-
gated. If the water cannot be had at
that time, the onions will stand from
one to three days without being irri-
gated.
It is very necessary that the land be
thoroughly prepared for onions. After
it has been thoroughly plOwed and pull
verified. the checks should be, say, 20
feet wide and 80 to 80 feet long; de-
pending upon the slope of the land
The land being quite soft the little
burrows in which the onions may be
transDlanted can be made by a home
made marker; which is made from
l1X4 lumber The marker may have
three or more runners If 1t IS not
heavy enough to make the furroW,
place a weight on top Sometimes II
may be necessary for two individuals
to DRAG the marker, but as a rule one
man can do the work The burrows
need not be over one and One-half
inches to two inches IN depth This
method of uransplantinS onions IS
cheaper than the old method of simply
marking off the rows and the using
the dibber to make the holes. The eN-
pense Of transplanung varies consider
ably. but as a rule. with our present
dollar a day labor il viii cost in the
neighborhOod of S25 10 $50 to trans
plant an acre at the distances already
mentioned
The best all round soil for onions is
q rich loan Very sandy, as well as
heavy adobe, is not good soil for this
crop. Since the onion is q gross feeder,
there is no danger Of getting the soil
too rich Even if the soil is considered
fertile, il is advisable to enrich it by
means Of manure OF other fertilizers.
On the whole, manure is the best, and
When used in all probability it would
give better results if il were simply
disked in, instead of being plOwed IN
der. Manure can be used at the rate
Of 20 to 80 loads to the acre.