456 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Prof. Hansen: It does very nicely on the prairie. It came 

 from central Asia and is well adapted to these conditions. 



Mr. Ramsdell: It ought to be a great addition to our list. 



Prof. Hansen: It does finely in the southern part of the 

 state. 



The President: Any further questions? 



A Member: What do you think of the Russian olives? 



Mr. Ramsdell : The Russian olive is very good where it is 

 necessary to use it. Of course, it is one of the hardiest plants, 

 is very thorny and stiff and makes an extremely heavy hedge 

 that will turn stock if it is closely planted. It is, however, apt 

 to overgrow, just like the buckthorn, and if it isn't well cared 

 for it will result in a very rough and scraggly hedge. While it 

 is young it is practically as good as the buckthorn. (Applause.) 



Some Phases of Onion Culture. 



W. T. TAPLEY, INSTRUCTOR IN VEGETABLE GARDENING, DEPARTMENT OF 

 AGRICULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. 



Among the vegetable crops of the United States the onion 

 takes its rank in third place, being below both the tomato and 

 cabbage. In Minnesota the onion has its place with the leading 

 vegetable crops, the money value averaging over $200,000 per 

 year. Not only in recent years has the onion been an important 

 crop, but for hundreds of years it has been one of the stable 

 vegetable foods in many parts of the world. The exact place of 

 its origin is not known, but in its early period it occupied a vast 

 area in Western Asia, extending perhaps from Palestine to 

 India. Among the early Egyptians it was also a very popular 

 food. At present Vilmorin describes sixty varieties, varying 

 in form from flat, disc, spherical, pear-shaped to long, the last 

 form in Japan often growing a foot or more in length. Chaucer 

 named the onion in England about 1340. In Mexico it was men- 

 tioned before 1557, in Peru before 1604, in New England, 

 1629, in Virginia, 1648, and it was among the Indian foods 

 destroyed by General Sullivan in Western New York in 1779. 

 The onion is recognized in the languages of twenty-seven coun- 

 tries. 



In the olden times the growing of the crop was confined 

 chiefly to the alluvial river valleys, but by improvement of 

 varieties and careful cultural methods the onion is now grown 

 under a diversified range of soils and climatic conditions. It 

 is only during the last quarter of a century that a rapid growth 

 and development of the industry has taken place in the Northern 



