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Onion Seed: Grown from Selected Bulbs (USDA, 1896)
Onion seed raised the 1896 USDA way: plant the best stored bulbs, not the culls, in trenches; earth up the seed stalks into a ridge; cut the heads as they yellow, dry them on a tight floor, flail, winnow and wash out the light seed.
Choosing well-shaped bulbs year after year can turn a flat strain into a round one.
Source: USDA Farmers' Bulletin 39, Onion Culture (1896), pp. 25-26. Picture: the bulletin's text.
Intermediate
One season from planting the bulbs
Instructions
1
1
Select and plant the bulbs
Select and plant the bulbs
Choose seed bulbs carefully, rejecting any that fall short of the ideal; do not use culls. In prepared ground, cover them in trenches 4 or 5 in deep, about 6 in apart, rows 14 to 18 in apart for a hand wheel hoe (about 2 1/2 ft for a horse). Plant as early in spring as the weather allows, or in autumn where winters are not too severe.
Materials for this step:
Onion1 selected seed bulbsTools needed:
Spade2
2
Earth up the seed stalks
Earth up the seed stalks
Once the seed stalks are well started, draw soil up round them three or four times in the season, finally leaving a ridge 7 or 8 in high. After the last cultivation disturb the plants as little as possible.
Tools needed:
Wheel Hoe
Garden Hoe3
3
Cut the heads as they ripen
Cut the heads as they ripen
Harvest promptly, before the seed capsules crack open. When the heads turn yellowish, take them off with 5 or 6 in of stem; put overripe ones into tight vessels or into baskets lined with paper. Go over the plants three or four times, as they do not all ripen together.
Tools needed:
Basket
Paper4
4
Dry, thresh and clean
Dry, thresh and clean
Store the heads in a well-ventilated room with a tight floor until dry enough to thresh, turning them often, which shakes out more than half the seed. Flail out the rest. Clean by repeated winnowing, then wash in buckets or tubs to float off light seed and chaff. Dry the seed thoroughly and store it away from damp.
Tools needed:
Threshing Flail
Winnowing Fan
Wooden Tub
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