ALLIUM 



SATIVUM 



Used by Taper- 

 makers. 



Strontium. 



Celestite. 



Sugar Refineries ; 

 Strontianite. 



D.E.P., 

 i., 168-75., 



Onion. 



Best Quality. 

 Transplanting. 



Garlic. 



Food. 

 Medicine. 



Domestic. 

 Cement. 



THE ONION AND GARLIC 



tion with that substance. The reader will find an example of the extent to which 

 this sulphate is employed in India by consulting the account given of the Afridi 

 Wax-cloth industry under Cartriamiis OjcyacnutHa (pp. 276, 282). Barytes is 

 also used by the paper-makers, and to a limited extent as a cheap substitute for 

 barium nitrate in certain forms of fireworks. 



17. Calcium and its Salts (see Lime, pp. 709-19). 



18. Strontium and Strontia. The oxide strontia does not 

 exist in nature, but it may be produced by burning either the carbonate 

 or the sulphate. 



CELESTITE, the sulphate of strontium, has been reported as met with in two 

 localities in India, viz. in the Kirthar limestones of Sind and in the red clays of 

 Surdag in the Salt Range. In the sugar refineries of the Continent of Europe the 

 native carbonate (Strontianite) was formerly used in place of lime (Journ. Soc. 

 Chem. Indust., Nov. 1901, 1092). But the metal is chiefly known in India in 

 the form of the imported nitrate which is largely employed in the preparation of 

 rod-coloured flames in fireworks. 



ALKALOIDS (see Aconitum, Cinchona, Papaver, etc.). 



ALLIUM, Lin ii,. ; Fl. Br. Ind., vi., 337-45 ; LILIACE M. A genus of 

 bulbous herbs which embraces about 250 species, all indigenous to the 

 temperate regions. In addition to the onion and the garlic (which are the 

 most important species), the shallot and the leek (A. aftcalonicinn, 

 Linn., and A. Ampeloprasum, Linn.) are also cultivated in India, 

 the latter being the paru of Bengal and the kirdth or kirds of Arabia. 

 In Western India, according to Woodrow, leeks succeed best at altitudes 

 of 2,000 feet. 



A. Cepa, Linn. ; Duthie, Field and Garden Crops, iii., 5, pi. Ixv. ; Mollison, 

 Textbook Ind. Agri., iii., 211. 



The ONION is extensively cultivated in India, chiefly near large towns, and is 

 known as piyaz, pdldndu, kanda, vella-vengdyam, vullu-gadalu, etc. There are 

 two forms, a small silvery and a large red or yellow. Patna and Bombay ( Jan- 

 gira) are famous for their onions, and, speaking generally, the onions from the 

 northern provinces are the largest and best. The size and quality would seem 

 to be improved by transplantation, which is also a preventive against disease 

 from fungi and insects. Seeds will not keep in India for more than one season, 

 hence selected bulbs are planted for seed purposes at the beginning of the cold 

 season. After careful preparation the seed-bed should be sown about Sep- 

 tember and the seedlings transplanted in November or early in December. 

 The crop may be lifted from March to May. In two test cases mentioned by 

 Mollison the yield was about 35,000 Ib. to the acre. Onions are extensively 

 eaten in India by Muhammadans, much less frequently by the Hindus ; they are 

 occasionally given to milch cows and buffaloes. There would appear to be a 

 considerable export trade in the bulbs from Bombay to Zanzibar, Japan, etc. 

 [Cf. Ain-i-Akbari, 1590, 63 ; Sen, Kept. Agri. Stat., Dacca, 1899, 25, 38, 

 app. vi.-xii. ; Imp. Dept. Agri., West Ind., Pamphl. Nos. 16-21.] 



A. sativum, Linn. ; Duthie, I.e. 34, pi. Ixvi. ; Mollison, I.e. 214. The 

 GABLIC, lasan, rasun, belloli, thum, sir, vallai-pundu, etc., is cultivated throughout 

 India, the cloves (or small bulbs) being planted out in October and the crop 

 gathered in the beginning of the hot weather. As showing the extent to which 

 the seasons of production vary, it is reported of Coimbatore district, South 

 India, that planting commences in May June and harvesting in September, being 

 followed by a tobacco-crop, or if planted in December and gathered in March, it 

 is followed by cholam. According to Mollison, a good crop will yield 8,000 to 10,000 

 Ib. per acre and be worth Rs. 250 to the cultivator. As a FOOD, garlic is almost 

 universally used in curries by the Natives, who also eat the bulbs almost daily. 

 In MEDICINE it is regarded as a stimulant, expectorant, tonic, and employed as 

 a remedy in bronchial affections and as an application for deafness. Dymock 

 (Pharmacog. Ind., iii., 489) says that after intense fatigue a clove of garlic slowly 

 chewed and swallowed acts as a very powerful restorative, The freshly ex- 

 pressed juice makes an excellent CEMENT for glass-ware. The imported Muscat- 

 garlic is much used for pickling. [Cf.Talee/ Shereef (Playfair, transl.), 1833, 147.] 



58 



