Nh i il 238 Wl i S> LIBRARY Michigan State University MSU LIBRARIES ae Ga RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to remove this checkout from your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date Stamped below. ~ 2 reir NP 1°17 THESIS THO TRNAS SiR UDA OVIO. IEDUSORY. There is a very small amount of available literature concerning the Bermuda onion industry of Texas,therefore the aim of this thesis is to furnish information about the history,location,extent and present methods used rather than an attemot to give detailed instructions concorning tne best cultural and marketing methods.The writer has been in the growing sections during two harvesting seasons and was impress- ed with the magnitude of the cron. Practically all of the Bermda onion growing regions in Texas are south of a line drawn east and west through San Antonio.The largest vercentaze of the crop is grown close to the Rio Grande river.Nor- mally about one half of the total acreae is grown at Laredo,Texas. Other important shipping points named approximately in the order of their inportance are Asherton,Crystal City, Cotulla, Mission, Carrizo sorings, Pearsel1,Big Wells,and Corpus Christi. Daring the season of 1916 five thousand carloxds of 464 bushel crates each or 2,320,020 bushels were shipped out of the Texas territory. These onions were snipped from March 25th to June lst,inclusive,The 1.0.56 price averaged approximately one dollar per crate.The total Texas acreaze in 1916,according tc the United States Bureau of Crop istimates,was 10,057,this bein; the lerzest acreage of onions acered- ited to any state in the Union.The Avril lst 1917 estimate vlaces the acreaze at 12,050 and the yleld at 2,964,300 bushels or about 6,300 carlozds. While there are no complete figures on the total onion crop in the United States it is estimated that the Texas Bermida onion crop constitutes about twenty percent of the total production. History:- The Bernmde onion industry is relatively youn; in the stute of Texas,having its inception et Cotulla about 1£97.4 few of them were 103930 — = grown there vy usins « wel* and windmill as a meens of irrigation. The grower was so successfal in growing and markxetins them that, the following ye2r,he secured secd for a larger acreage and planted them on land where better irrigation facilities were available.¥From this time the industry grew by leaps and bounds until,at present, these onions constitute the main cash cron of the above mentioned irrigated area. Varieties:- Varieties of Berimda onions mentioned in available literature are the White Bermds and the Red Bermdsa.The red variety is not grown commercially in Southern Texas.The White Bermda variety is really yellow in color and in the zrowing sections they are commonly spoken of as "yellows".This ‘hite(yellow) variety usually constitutes about 75 percent of the totsl acreaze.The other variety grown(Crystal Wax), commonly called "wax",1s oure waxen white in color and very attractive in appearance.The wax variety usually brings the hizhest price during the early part of the shipping season and is preferred in thse west- ern :arkets.They require careful manasement during the mturing,kar- vesting and marketing season.The yellow variety is preferred in the ec.s3tern markets. Another onion which seers to be gaining a foothold in tha Texas ter- ritory is the Spanish Denia.‘hile Bermada onions are typically flct the Denias are about the shape of tne Yellow Globe.They are planted at a time when the Bermuda varieties are ne:rly ready to hcrvest. They are harvasted in Aumst. peed i= Up to the present time practically all of the Bermmda onion se:d nas been ovtained from Teneriffe,in the Canary Islanis.The seed is = 56 harvested there in July and is received in this country fron Auzsust 15th to September 15th.2uring the fall of 1916 there were 37,090 pounds of Teneriffe seed sold in this country of which 30,009 pounds were of the yellow variety.Besides this there were 15,000 pounds shipped from Riverside and Imerial counties, California.California seed seems to be growing in popularity and it is predicted that in a few years all of the seed used in this country will come from Cal- ifornia.Hactors which are muaking the Celifornia seed more popular are the uncertainty of obtaining the Teneriffe seed in time for planting,the import duty, and the tendency of the foreim grown seed of the yellow variety to become mixed with the red variety by cross pollination, thereby procucing a large percentaze of pink onions in the yellow stock.California seed aan also be delivered earlier than that vhich is imoorted. seed bedsi- Bermuda onion plants have to be grown in a seed bed and trans- planted(Fig.5).This seed bed is placed on the dest and mst friable soll after careful prevaration.Soeil with a semll amount of hums or soil which puddles or bakes readily is not used for seed beds. With good viable seed two and one half to three pounds will produce enough plants for an acre.There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the best time for planting the seed which varies from the mid- dle of August until the first of October.Most of the seed is planted from September tenth to twenty fifth.There is a tendency for the ¢ro- wers to attempt to produce an early maturing crop by planting their seed early.In some years they are successful but it seems to take a certain amount of warm weather to mature the crov,and as this warm weather usually does not arrive until early spring,there seems to be little advantage in erly planting.During the 1917 season the early -4— plantings ended disastrously as two early froste cauczht them at a critical stage and the plants produced a larse percentaze of seed heads instead of good marketable onions. seed beds are laid off in borders about fifteen fest from center to center and fifty to one bmndred fect long,depending uvon the amount of fall or slope in the land.Rows are planted about 12-13 inches apart. Tne beds are well levelled so that there are no low nor high spots where the plants are either drowned or suffer from moisture. The seed ia drilled in straight rows,using 25 to 30 pounds per acre of seed bed. It 1a planted from one h-lf to one inch deep depending upon the nature of the soil.4As soon as the seed is planted the ground is irrigated and the surface of the soll is not allowed to form a crust until the young plants are through the ground.After the plants are above the surface they are cultivated frequently.The beds are ir- rigated often enough to kecp the soil moist cand the plants growing vigorously.A steady even zrowth is necessary to produce plants which will result in a uniformly high grade of onions at harvesting time. About two irrigations are necessary to germinate the seed properly and two others to bring the pl:nts to proper size for transplanting. The seedlings reach transplanting size from fifty to seventy days after planting the seed. Preparation of land- All land used for onion growing in south Texas wes orizinally covered with prickly pear or cactus,mesquite and other plants in- digenous to arid countries(Fig.1).Therefore one of the first opera- tions necessary in preparing new lend for the crop is to clear ite After the land is cleared an adequate water supoly is provided.In the Laredo section the water is all pumped from the Rio Grande river by ne use of large gasoline engines and powerful pumps. A few farms are __sa= so far distant from the river thet a "second lift" or second pump has to be installed in the line.Some of the irrigation systems use under- ground pipes for carrying the water to a higher level and others use flumes(¥Fig.2).In either case outlets are pleced at convenient inter- vals so that the water can be diverted into the open irrigation ditches. It is also quite common to pump into large reservoirs which are sit- uated on a high elevation(Ng.é). The water is distributed into the ditches from the reservoir bg means of gravity(Fig.3).In the onion districts north of Laredo the water is supplied mostly from artesian wells Most of these artesian wells have ceased flowing and pums hzve to be used. A few onions are grown on small ridges and the irrigation water run between each row but the largest percentage of the crop,especially in the Laredo section,is irrigated by what is known as the border flood system(Fig.7).The "borders"are made by throwing up a ridge of soil eight to ten inches high and about twelve to eighteen inches wide. These ridges of soil are made parallel to each other and placed so that they contour the surface of tne land. The end of each border is next to an irrigation ditch where the weter can be turned in to flood the soll included between the ridges. It is tne aim to have a nearly level surface in each border so that the water will flood over the surface evenly. The borders are built 75 to 100 and even 150 feet long, depending upon the contour of the land. Only one border has been described but it should ce understood that all of the surface of the soil is covered with borders except for the area taken up by irrigation ditches. Transplanting :- As has been mentioned all of the seed is planted in specially prepared beds and the seedlings are taken up and transplanted.When the seedlings are about one eighth to one quarter of an inch in dia- meter they are taken up and the tops end roots trimmed before they are transplanted.Many of the most successful growers "cull® the plants before they are set out,taking out the gmall and inferior looking plants. Growers who do this claim that a mch better grade of stock is obtained at harvesting time than when all of the plants are used.The writer has noted crops Where the plants have been graded and found the above assumption to be true.Where this culling of plants takes place, ten to twenty five percent of the plants are discarded. However this practice is limited in extent and most of the growers plant the seed- lings as they come from the seed bed,maintaining that labor is too scarce, tnat it costs too much and that it 1s impos;ible to transplant a large acreaze when the plants are culled. Rows are marked off in the border about a foot apart and the seedlings are distributed along the row.The laborer,equipved with a smell dibhie, makes a hole in the grouni,pluces the plant and forces the soil around it.They are planted three to four inches apart in the row and one to one and one half inches deep.As soon as the border is planted(Fig.6) it is given an irrization and within a few days the young plants have thrown out new roots. Cultural methods :%- No detailed description of the cultural methods vill be given as they do not differ widely from other truck crops.A steady even growth is tne aim of the onion grower.Any severe check in the growth results in forming a larze percentige of splits,doubles and seed stems at harvesting time.During the 1917 season there were two rather severe late frosts which resulted in producin: about fifty percent of seed stems in some crovs. An even growth is accomplished by prover irr- igation,fertilization and cultivation. The rows being planted close together,cultivation has to be done by hand and much hend wecding is -~(= necessurye Yields very from 100 to 700 crates ser acre but an averaze yield is 250-300 crates cer acre(Fig.15). Harvestin;:- During the growinzs as well as the harvest season Mexicun men, women and children are the onl:; laborers available,It is doudtful if the industry could thrive as it does without this cheap and plentiful supply of labor.They are paid fifty to seventy-five cents per day, althouzh the Mexicans prefer contract work. When tre Bermuda onion is ready to harvest the tops begin to fall over. ine waturity also can be jud:ed by determinin: if the necks are soft to the touch ratner than having the turgid feeling of a growing plant. The most of the top of the onion is green when it is dug but a large percentage of the tovs heave fallen over.Some growers try to hasten maturity by rollin: down the tovs but this is not practiced by the vest growers. Tne onions are plowed out with a "Georzia stock" or "scooter.the mle walks along the side of the row and the plow 1s run under the bulbs so thet each one is loosened by lifting.Txe plows are immediately follow- ed vy laborers who shaxe off some of the adhering soil and throw the onions from two borders together in a windrow(Fig.9&10).If the tons are somewhat green and the weather is not threatening rain, the grower mey allow then to lie in the windrows for a few hours ora dey to dry out before clinving off the tops.If clipped too soon after dig:ing, when the tops are greon, they bleed and are not dry when placed in the crates.but if left in the hot sun too long there is dancer of sunburn. The comnon practice is to"cet the onions out of the ground" as fast “8 DO:31Lb..e when tne hcrvest season be;;ins.The rowers alweys are afraid thit it is soins to rain and hcrm tne crop.Tnerefore it is usual to begin clipsin.; as soon as they ere plowed out and in windrows. -3— Onions which are olowed out in the morning usually are in the curs vy nichtfall.Clipping,which is done by hand with common sheep shecrs,is accomplished by contract labor,and costs from two to four cents per crate according to the nature of tne crop and the supnly of labor. he onions are clipped on the ground and picked up into crates(Fizs 11212). ig goon as the onions are clipped and when the atmosvhere is dry, tney are cleaned.Tne cleaning is accomplished by pouring a crate of onions upon a piece of gunny sacking about 3: feet wide and 6 to 8 feet long (Mz.17).With a laborer holdinc on either end of the gunny sacking, they are "shffled" endwise and sidewise a few times.Tnis cleaninz is done to renove any adhering soil and the coarse,outside,loose layers of skins or lmlis.If carefully done when the onions are dry it leaves the stock in a vrizht cleen coniition. Careless laborers often ccuse an unnecess.ry amount of bruisins in this operation. Grading :- Ag 300n as the onions are cleuned they are gr:.ded.Some growers do this by running them over a V shaped tadle with ae slatted slanting bottomeThe onions are poured in at the too end of the table and worked dowm to the lower and narrow end.Laborers stand on either side of the table and pick out the culls and small stock,allowing the best stock go into the crates at the lower end.The table is very simil:r to those used in many of the ap»vle producing sections. gat of the so called greding is done by pouring them on the ground as they are cleaned and sortins them as they are picked un into crates(Fig.16). In the past a very small amount of effective grading has been done.It is the practice to sep:rcte the splits,poor doubles,vottle necks and small stock from the medium to lar:ve stock.No onions are thrown away 8 they are all placed into two "grades".The standard of these zriiec -J- varies in the «aifrerent fieids and witn different crowers. In order to stand: rdize the grades which go on the market the Office of Morkets and Hurel Organization of tne United States Department of Avriculture has been conducting investivational work during the past tivo seasons.Zhe aim has been to find standards (Fig.18) which are vractical from the growers and market viewpoint in order to provide a basis for barsainins an’ to eliminate confusion in the marketing. As a result the following grades have been recommended for the 1917 shipoins season. Grading rules:- Standard Jumbo Grade- shall consist of onions of one variecty,well- shaped,m:ture,clean,dry,crignt,fre: from damazing oruises and suncourn and ever 3: inches in dizmeter. Standard ilo.l Grade- Shall consist of onions of one variety, sounc., “ell shaped,m:ture,cle.n,dry,bri-:cht,free from danavzing bruises and sunburn; not less than tye or over 3= inches in dizumeter. Hd Onions shipped under this grade shall not include over 5 percent by weight of jumbo,5 percent by weisht of mumber two or 2 percent by weight of boilers shzli be allowed in this grade.Provided, however, that the total tolerance shall not be over ten percent by weight for notice- bly pink, jumbo,mmber tiwo,boilers or other onions below the fore- going specifications. Standard No.2 Grade- Shall consist of onions of one variety, sound, mature,diry,free from damaging bruises and sunburn; not tess than two or over 33 inches in diameter.ixcept for tne tolerance this grade shall not include doubles, splits,bottle necks and seed ste:is. Yellow onions shipped under this grade shall not include over ten percent by weizht of onions which are noticecbly pink.iiot over 5 percent by weizht -10- of jumbo,5 percent by weizht of boilers,5 percent by weight of mumber 3 shall be allowed in this grade.Provided,however, that the total tolerance shall not be over 15 percent by weight for noticeably pink, jambo,boilers,mumber three or other onions below the foregoing spe- cifications. Standard Boiler Grade- Shall consist of onions of one variety,sound,well shaped, mature,cleen,dry,bright,free from damaging bruises and sunburn and from one to two inches in diameter.Not over 5 percent by weizht of any other grede shall be allowed in this grade, standard No.3 grade* lay include doubles, splits,oottle necks,seed stems and any sound and market:ble onions not included in other grades. Interpretation of Terms:- "One variety".They mst be of the Crystal Wax, White(yellow) Bermuda or Red Bermada and not a mixture of these types or varieties. "Yature".The onions shall be fully grown and firm--not partly grown and soft nor what might be termed fully or dead ripe. "Sound". Stock must contain no weatersoaked,decayed or otherwise unsound onions. “Well shaped". Not having the appearance of being three,four or five sided,Onions round enough so that the general appearance is round. Need not be of the exact flat Bermd:. type,but shall not include thick necks,bottle necks,or seed stems. "Clean,dry,oright". Practically free from soil or dirt,frce from excessive moisture and have an attractive lustre. "Noticeably pink" Refers to stock with a conspicuous pink color often found in the yellow onions.Those which are not pink enough to detract from the market value shall not be excluded.When more of this -ll- notice:bly oink stock is found than is allowed in the tolerance it shall be graded out as a distinct variety. Red Bernmda onions found in .. stock of tae White(yellow)Bermda onion variety are excluded by the specification "one variety". Packing- The “Cummer" tyve of crate shown in Ngure 17 is used almost ex- clusively.These crates hold about fifty pounds of onions.‘the onions are placed in tne crates as soon as graded,the cover put in place and the ends driven down and clinched. Marketing= The marketing of Texas Bermuda onions is accomplished like many otner perishable crovos where there is no organization of the growers. Produce firms send in representatives to buy what they need for cash if it is impossible to get them on a consignment basis.Some carlot distributing firms handle on a commission basis.Growers with large acreazes my find a market for their ovm product either by means of oraiers from produce firms or by shipping on consiznment.Some growers contract to market their output throuzh a distributor, being able there- oy to get an advance while growing the crop.Speculators also buy a large amount of stock. During the past two seusons the United States Office of Markets has established a mariet news service for the benefit of the growers and shippers.This has been a material help in the distribution of the crop. ri Showing the nature of the lend before clearing. A — b. bn irric:tion flume. 3. Taming water into an irrigation ditch from the reservoir shown below. Ls 4 4 reservoir for irrigation purposes. 5. The seed bed as it appears before transplanting. G, Seedlings just transplanted.Note the way borders are made. 7 ‘Method of flood irrigation. Ps Be POTTY} Pe ») DOSLAREDO Tey Seedy Dy £, M10 oR 8. A well grown crop of onions about ready to harvest. indr..ws : ng the onions in w v7 Plowing out and throv 9: 10, As they eppeear after digcing. aa PP ime SE — 1H, Onions clipped and picked up into crates. 13, A busy harvesting ecene. Oe Bee fe ]4, Large field partially harvested. aoe re ON ri oe Bee iyo Sa oe Re [5. &£ yield of about 500 crates per acre. 1G Grading onions from the ground, ' The most common method. ——— Bunning onions over a sizing machine.iote method of cleaning with piece of gunny sacking. 17 1 Grades from left to right:ho.3,"picklers",boilers, 8, No.l,and jumbo. EE 79, Ieading into cars for shipnent. a. “ Oe z ¢ a oo at AT TD” &® rl rad a® re rf ed ‘ ‘ = rei a Sg , M66 = soe ER Ta ~ ~— x S A ss “S ~ ne “A a = — — a ™ — Se eb ~ m. aan, ~ TOI