v;
strong flavour; much tho most generally
VuUivatcd in Britain.
8. Ui’plford onion; ini.hllc-sized, globular;
pale brown; a subvariety of
•' asburgh, nnd very gennrally
mltivii
0. Glob, .
tinged with red, mild, and keeps
well; veiy popular among gardeners.
10. James's keeping; large, pyr.vmidal,
brown, hardy, strong in llavour, and
keeps well; originated some years
ago by James, a market-gardcncr, in
Lnmbeth Marsii.
11. Palc-re.d; middle-sized, flattened,
globe-slnipc, palo red, strong llavour,
keeps well.
12. Blood-red, Dutch blood-red, St.
Thomas’s oniou; middle-sized, flat,
very hardy,denii-rcd, strong flavour,
and keeps particularly well; much
grown in Wales nnd Scothunl: in
the iKindoi! market it is esteemed
for its dlnretie qualities.
13. Tripoli: the largest onion grown;
d brown, soft and mild, but does
not keep long after it is taken up.
14. Lisbon; laige, globular, smooth,
bright, white, and thin skin, tardy in
ripening, but hardy, mnch used for
autumnal sowing; seed generally obtained
from tlio soutli of I'raiice.
15. Welshonion,orciboule(\'lUiimfistu-
Ibsum L .); a nativo of Silierla, hardy,
strong in flavour, but does not bulb;
sown in autumn for drawing In
16. ^n/rground or potato onion ; multiplies
itself by tho formation of
young bulbs on tho parent root, and
jiroduces an amide crop below the
surface; ripen? early, but docs not
keep beyond February; flavour
strong.
17. Tree or htdb-henring onion (k'Uium
Cbiia var. viviparum'), Oignon
d'JCgypte, I^r.; originally from Canada,
where tho climate being too
cold for onions to flower ami seed,
when they arc allowed to throw np
flower-stalks, tho flower become*
vivip.irous, ancl hears bulbs inste.nl
of flowers; hero it retains tho samo
haiiit. It is more an object of cnri-
osity than use, though, in some parte
of Wales, Milne informs us Ulort.
Trans., iii. 419.), the caullnc hulhs
are planted, and produce ground-
onions of a considerable size, while
tlie stem snpiilies a succession of
bulbs for next year’s planting. It is
considered stronger, and to go farther
a? season ing,than other onions, (Uorl.
Trans., hi. 569.)
18. Scallion; a term generally given to
the strong green tops of onions in the
Bjiving which do not bulb, or to the
shoots fi'om bulbs of the preceding
year. Miller mentions it as a dis-
tinct sort; some consider it the Welsh
onion ; nnd Milne thinks it may not
imjirobably bo tho hollow leek, a
species of M'lllum grown in Pembrokeshire
and otlier parts of South
Wales, with roots in clusters like tliose
ofshallots. (Hort. Tmns., iii. 416.)
37G2. E s tim a te o f so rts. The Strasburgh is most generally adopted for principal crops, and n ex t tbe
Deptford and globe. T h e Portugal and Spanish yield large crops for early use, and the silver-skinned
and two-bladed are reckoned the best for pickling. The potato onion is planted in some places as an
auxiliary crop, but is considered inferior to the others in flavour: th e Welch onion is sometimes sown
in autumn for drawing early in the following spring.
37G3. SoU. The onion, “ to attain a good size, requires rich mellow ground on a dry subsoil. If tho
soil be poor or exhaustecl, recruit it with a compost of fresh loam and well-consumed dung, avoiding to
use stable-dung in a rank unreduced state. Tu rn in the manure to a moderate depth ; and in digging
th e ground, let it be broken fine. Grow picklors in poor light ground, to keep them small.” The mar kot-
gardcnors at Hexham sow their onion-seed on th e same ground for twenty or more years in succession,
but annually manure th e soil. After digging and levelling th e ground, the manure, in a very rotten
state, is spread upon it, the onion-seed sown upon th e manure, and covered with earth from the alleys,
•e abundant and excellent in quality. (U o r t. T r a n s . ,v 6 \. i. p.and the crops a 121.) This is an anomalous
case with reference to the general principles of the rotation of crops, as laid down by De Candolle in his
P hysiologie Végétale. It is agreed on all hands that, to have large onions, th e soil must be loamy, of
considerable depth, and very rich. No manure suits th e onion and the leek better than bullock’s blood,
previously prepared by mixture with compost of lime and earth for a year. Powdered bones and night
soil are also excellent manures for the onion tribe.
3764. .9a.’ci an d tim e s o f sow in g . When onions are to he drawn young, 2 oz. of seed will be requisite
for a bed 4 ft. by 24 f t .; bnt when to remain for bulbing, 1 oz. will suffice for a bed 5 ft. by 24 ft.
.376.5. The course o f cu ltu re rQcom'mn\\4o4 by Abercrombie for the summer, aud what he calls winter
laid-by crops, is as follows: — “ Allot an open compartment, and lay it out in heds from S ft. toGft.
width. Sow broadcast, equally over the rough surface, moderately thick, bed and bed separately, and
rake in the seed along each bed, in a regular manner. When th e plants are 3 in. or 4 in. high, in
May and .Tune, let them be cleared from weeds, and let the principal crop be thinned, either by hand,
or with a small 2-inch hoe; thinning th e plants to intervals of from Sin. to 5 in. in the main crops designed
for full bulbing; or, some beds may remain moderately thick for drawing young, by successive thinnings,
to th e above distance. For th e Spanish, from seed obtained immediately from Spain, the final distance
should be 6 in. or 7 in. Keep the whole very clear from weeds, in thcir young and advancing state.
T h e plants will begin bulbing a little in June ; more fully in July ; and be fully grown in August to
large bulbs. In July or August, when th e leaves begin to dry at the point and tu rn yellow, lay the
stems down close to the ground, bending them about 2 in. up the neck, which promotes th e ripening of
the bulb, particularly in wet or backward seasons. The crop of full bulbers will be ready to take up
towards the middle of August. When the necks shrink, and the leaves decay, pull them wholly up in
due tim e : spread them on a compartment of dry ground, in the full sun, to dry and harden completely,
turning them every two or three d ay s; and in a week or fortnight they will be ready to house. Clear
off the grossest part of the leaves, stalks, and fibres ; then deposit the bulbs in some close dry apartment,
in which sometimes tu rn them over, and pick out any th a t decay; and they will thus keep sound and
good, all winter and spring, till May following.”
3766. The cu ltu re o f onions in drills is a vety desirable practice where th e object is to produce large
T h e drills should be not less than 1 ft. or 18 in. apart, and th e plants should be thinned to 6 in.
bulbs. ____ . . . . . ,
asunder in the row’. Various examples of successful culture in this
iy, and of extraordinary produce
in consequence, will be found in the G a rd en e r's Ma g a zin e , vol. Ii. ^ 274.,, ,
vol. iii. p. 175., and v o l.ix .
p. 75. T h e Spanish or Portuguese variety is th e best for producing bulky crops.
3707. T ra n sp la n tin g onions. This practice was recommended by Worlidgc in his S y stem a J lorticul-
turee, published early in the !7th century, and has lately been revived by Knight, Warre, Macdonald, and
others. It may be observed, th a t it has been practised, for an unknown period, in some of the market-
gardens near London, known by the name of the “ Gardens of th e Neat’s Iiouses.” Knight observes.
that every bulbous-rooted plant, and indeed every plant th a t lives longer than one year, generates in one
season the sap or vegetable blood which composes the leaves and roots of the succeeding spring. “ This
reserved sap is deposited in, and composes, in a great measure, the bulb; and the quantity accumulated,
as well as the period required for its accumulation, varies greatly in th e same species of plant, under
more or less favourable circumstances. Thus th e onion, in the south of Europe, acquires a much larger
size during the long and warm summers of Spain and P ortugal, in a single season, than in the colder
climate of E ngland; but under th e following mode of culture, which I have long practised, two summers
in England produce nearly the effect of one in Spain or Portugal, and the onion assumes nearly th e form
and size of those thence imported. Seeds of the Spanish or Portugal onion are sown at the usual period
in the spring, very thickly, and in poor soil, generally under th e shade of a fru it-tr e e ; and in such
situations the bulbs, in th e autumn, are rarely found much to exceed the size of a large pea. These are
then taken from the ground, and preserved till the succeeding spring, when they are planted a t equal
distances from each other, and they afford plants which differ from those raised immediately from seed,
only in possessing much greater strength and vigour, owing to th e quantity of previously generated sap
being much greater in the bulb than in th e seed. T h e bulbs thus raised, often exceed considerably 5in.
in diameter, and being more mature, they are, with more certainty, preserved in a state of perfect
soundness through the winter, than those raised from seed in a single season.”
3768. West has tried the above mode, and found it perfectly successful. (H o r t. T ra n s ., vol. iv. p. 139.)
Brown, of Perth, has practised transplanting onions for upwards of twenty years; all the difference between
his mode and th a t of Knight and the Neat’s Houses’ gardeners is, that, instead of sowing under
th e shade of trees, he picks out all th e small onions, from the size of a pea to th a t of a filbert, from his
general crop. If the sown crops fail, he can always tru st to the transplanted crop as a reserve. (Ne ill,
in E n c y c . B r i t . art. H o r t.)
3769. J am e s transplants either autumn-sown onions, or such as are forwarded by a hotbed in spring,
mould, well mixed with twr> Hi to u r ‘Jie plant
IS ightly pressed down on the plant; wat“ is comp/st
according to the state o fth e weather hi p S L / i attended to, and th e watering coSumied
dung, placed m the alleys of the beds a verv ifo'h lirmia o« • through small heans of
exhausted, or washed a /a y , should be - c S d ai d Z J /r® " " IT ‘i«ng, as ft is
S V l V ™ v / l i i l T i l current/’so tli/t
oj; a slfeht f e S / o f S e to "S' re-"" " " " “ “ ri » b e tim e s
<.iiBuaiigu or a i n .o r f> in from poi-h «41,/.^ • h — ,n iawhb auout r.
laving tlie s iirf a cG .e a rH , enjoying the great and well
“ He sows to e 'i / /d i/A p rS ! th S ly i? / b / ? t n d iSc/ioT/ifef‘' Z H by James Smith,
this causes them to remain sm a ll: a part of t h / Z r /m / d 7 7® up ;
AU • • '. " “ “■‘-''V/ puin OJ transpta.
the incipient bulb above ground
should be covered as 1..................
satisfactory magnitude.
"'»/’e ./n n n in g parallel to th e best aspect Z e medtom Hm« 7 ™^y ^ ft. or 4 ft!
7th of A ugust; and for a secondary c r o p 'n e a i th i l s th 8m? Z 1 «^nnt the
mat se p ^ a te lv ; distribute the see?l p r? « y thiJkly If th e /o i i t Z Welsh peren-
¿ e n ly along th e surface of each bed and then r a L it in n e n S seed
sprmg months till May; then let some T f th?buibous kVnis “j .yooog, a<mng all the
deS Jek t a » ’-«"® t° Nicol, should no, be
which also wrap hard, and so on. In tliis manner Z a v be place more onions!
also upon their b d n g carefully handled, and not bruised. In thft c S t / 7 house, and
succe^, searing the roots with a hot ir^n, for th e purpose of p r/s eS ftfA .V
sprouting ; and they should be kept in a drv airv ular« ” to Tnui. checks their
for a few seconds to the base of the onion whence the roots i!race/< Z p to i5®V 4®®’’® ®^’^*y
p art enables them to keep onions till they come ag/in " ’ ^«®troying vitality in that
two or three rows together, a foot asunder; in which p S t the T S i s tain r e " '
e arth m about 3 in. In planting double or treble rows allow an inti’rvil 0 r / ’l I
two or three rows, to admit of going in, both to place stakes in d horft! iitol
th e see^ stenis, and to cut down weeds. The plants will S S p in sSik ? 9 ¥ m a l
will ripen in August or S e p t S r ’’ ^ ^
E S p i> ? lr5 r 'ils '» r ;lb n T 7 8 0 5 ,¥ T ;S ;.D T
Devonshire for upwards of twenty years. It is thus cultivated at ArLmi,.! ? / / / Imown in
thoroughly prepared the ground, and formed it into beds 4 ft Z / 7 ? draw i Z ? L ®Z^
three to each bed, and with the end of the rake h a n d iem aL a m /ric /n o i a rtonii 4. '7®*®
mark I place the onions, 10 in. .apart; I then cover them with i / i r m n / surface; ou this
light compost, ju st so that the crowns appear exposed Notl i Z / Z ' f t / 1"®?’ ®’’y
shoot up their to p s; then, on a dry day, they are earthed up lik i n / t itoes ami to r ®® "®i** ^*'®y
they are taken up. In the west of Emrland wHpvp thi? ton «?■ P”i‘ft°®®’ / ' P t free from weeds until
that it is the practice to plant on the shortest day.aiid take u n Z thM o n f fS t
for planting swell, and become very fine and large, weft as yield offsets! the
4 r-è