The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-02-26
BY |. L. TOTEM

A chop failure is terrible thing, but
what of over-production?
When a crop is raised, harvested
and stored, and then cannot be sold
it means one of the most deplorable
conditions that can be imagined.
Last year the onion growers of
northern Indiana found themselves ex-
periencing this condition.
1t is customary, l know. to tell of the
successes only, but l believe that we
can find much that is worth thinking
about in what l am about to say re-
garding the onion situation as l know
| it to be today in and around Starke
county, Indiana.
Year before last those who were en-
gagged in the onion growing business
here made such handsome profits that
1t caused practically every one within
a radius of several miles of this place
i to go "onion crazy" 1t is not surpris-
ing, however that it did this when the
fact is taken into consideration that
the profits last year ran all the way
from 1920 to $1700 to the acre Think
of it!
An "Onion Epidemic"
Our local papers published incident
after incidental of them true, too
of how men, and even women, had
made small fortunes from only a few
acres of ground put out to onions
The onion fever spread-it became an
epidemic. The thoughts of suddenly
acquired riches placed the systems of
practically every one here in just the
proper condition to become innoculat-
ed with the onion fever germ
Onion-orion-onion was all that
could be heard wherever two or more
were together; the daily news of the
outside world had no interest for any
one. The discovery of gold could not
have fired the minds of the people to
greater hopes than did the miraculous
reports of our 1911 onion growers.
Court House officials, merchants,
dentists, doctors, lawyers, blacksmiths
and even bank officials either bought
or rented patches of muck soil for the
purpose of engaging in the onion
growing business.
All summer long the roads were
kept hot by automobiles and other
vehicles transporting loads of men and
women and boys and girls to and from
the onion fields.
Borrowed to Invest.
Many men and women invested all
the money they had in the business
and some even borrowed more to in
vest, and many borrowed all the
money that they put into the onion
growing. The banks loaned out
money to the protection limit. That
there could be such 8 thing as failure
did not seem to enter the mind of any
one
Under ordinary conditions, it costs
between $50 and 500 an acre to grow
and harvest and market a crop of
onions. Last year, however, it cost
more to grow them than ever before
The increased acreage caused a great
er demand for hired help, and with
this came the demand for higher
wages Boys of fifteen and eighteen
years of age demanded and were paid
So a day; girls of that age were paid
from $1.25 to So per day. Seed costs
about 81 a pound. The weeds were
more troublesome this year than ever
before because of the excessive rain
fall. Many of the onion growers
harvested only a half-crop, because
they could not get the help to keep
ahead of the weeds, and the weeds
took the other half. But even this adj
ditional expense did not seem to worry
the onion grower at first, because in
his mind the expense was comparative
ly nothing when the crop would bring
such big returns.
What do you think onions will be
worth this fall?" One onion grower
would ask another
Dollar a bushel, to be sure!" was
the reply invariably.
Such spirit of optimism as pre-
vailed here throughout the entire sum-
mer is rarely experienced anywhere
New houses were planned; some were
built; houses We're remodled, and
many planned to remodel their
houses; other planned to install fur
naces, ct cetera; several had auto
mobiles in sight, all on the strength
of the onion harvest.
Three new onion storages We're built
with a combined capacity of seventy