168 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



all kinds, but is the almost invariable characteristic of tree 

 and top onions. The seeds are black, angular, and flattish. 

 Usually the plant dies after seeding and disappears entirely, 

 but sometimes seed onions produce peculiar pointed bulbs, 

 called cloves, as well as seeds. Such plants may be consid- 

 ered perennial, and also the potato onion, which never 

 seeds and is propagated by the division of its bulbs. 



The onion has been cultivated from remote antiquity, 

 and there are very many varieties that have been developed 

 for different purposes. These are almost without exception 

 grown for their bulbs, but in a few cases no bulbs are formed. 

 The bulbs are white, red, and yellow in color, with inter- 

 mediate shades. In the successful raising of the onion, 

 good judgment and experience play an important part. 

 Perhaps no other vegetable crop is more certain to pay the 

 skillful grower for his time and labor, and no other is more 

 liable to cause trouble to the careless beginner, and yet its 

 cultivation is quite simple. 



The prices for onions vary greatly. They seldom are 

 so cheap as to make the crop unprofitable : but occasionally 

 they get down to fifteen cents per bushel, at which price 

 they cannot be grown at a profit. There are few animals 

 that eat onions, and if not sold they can not be fed to 

 stock on a large scale, as is the case with most vegetables. 

 As a money crop for careful growers in many sections they 

 are among the most reliable: and if a reasonable amount 

 of them is raised each year without regard to the price the 

 preceding year, it is a crop that will generally average a 

 good profit. 



Soil. Onions may be raised on any good, retentive 

 soil. Sandy land is too apt to dry out in summer for best 

 results. On drained muck land, large crops may be easily 

 raised; although onions grown on such soil are often a little 



