172 PLINY'S NATITKAL HISTORY. [Book XIX. 



their appearance at the same divisions as the leaves ; it is to 

 this circumstance that this variety owes its name. Taking 

 the hint from this fact, it is recommended to strip the other 

 kinds of their leaves, to make them bulb all the better, instead 

 of running to seed. 



The Ascalonian onion is of a peculiar nature, being barren 

 in some measure in the root ; hence it is that the Greeks have 

 recommended it to be reproduced from seed, and not from roots : 

 the transplanting, too, they say, should be done later in the 

 spring, at the time the plant germinates, the result being that 

 it bulbs with all the greater rapidity, and hastens, as it were, 

 to make up for lost time ; great dispatch, however, is requisite 

 in taking it up, for when ripe it rots with the greatest rapi- 

 dity. If propagated from roots, it throws out a long stalk, 

 runs rapidly to seed, and dies. 



There are considerable differences, too, in the colour of the 

 onion ; the whitest of all are those grown at Issus and Sardes. 

 The onions, too, of Crete are held in high esteem, but there 

 is some doubt whether they are not the same as the Ascalonian 

 variety ; for when grown from seed they produce a fine bulb, 

 but when planted they throw out a long stalk and run to seed ; 

 in fact, they differ from the Ascalonian kind only in the sweet- 

 ness of their flavour. 



Among us there are two principal varieties known of the 

 onion ; the scallion, employed for seasonings, is one, known to 

 the Greeks by the name of " gethyon," and by us as the " pal- 

 lacana ;" it is sown in March, April, and May. The other 

 kind is the bulbed or headed 59 onion ; it is sown just after the 

 autumnal equinox, or else after the west winds have begun to 

 prevail. The varieties of this last kind, ranged according to 

 their relative degrees of pungency, are the African onion, the 

 Gallic, the Tusctilan, the Ascalonian, and the Amiternian : the 

 roundest in shape are the best. The red onion, too, is more 

 pungent than the white, the stored than the fresh, the raw 

 than the cooked, and the dried than the preserved. The onion 

 of Amiternum is cultivated in cold, humid localities, and is 

 the only one that is reproduced from heads, 60 like garlic, the 

 other kinds being grown from seed. This last kind yields no 



59 "Capitata." 



60 For this reason, Fee is inclined to regard it as a variety either of 

 garlic, Allium sativum, or of the chalotte, Allium Ascaionicura of Linnseus. 



