182 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



of the greatest excellence are used. It is best to set the 

 bulbs about six inches deep and six inches apart in each 

 furrow, and to do this planting out very early in the spring. 

 The seed stalks will attain a height of about three feet. The 

 seed clusters ripen somewhat unevenly, but should be 

 gathered before they are quite dry, or the seed will shell out 

 and be lost. When gathered, they should be dried in airy 

 chambers and afterwards threshed out and cleaned with a 

 fanning mill, or they may be cleaned by being thrown into 

 water. The latter method insures the best seed. All 

 seeds that are full and plump will sink in water, and as the 

 chaff and lighter seeds float they are readily separated from 

 the good seed. Some of the seeds that float will grow, but 

 are not very desirable for planting. The same land that 

 grows a crop of onion seed is sometimes used for growing a 

 crop of cucumbers or melons at the same time, since the 

 onions do not shade the land or take much nourishment 

 from it except early in the spring. 



COMMON GARLIC (A Ilium sativum] 



Description. Native of southern Europe. A peren- 

 nial. All parts of the plant have the well-known strong, 

 burning taste. The bulbs or beads are composed of about 

 ten cloves enveloped by a very thin, white or rose-colored 

 membranous skin. The plant hardly ever flowers, and is 

 grown by means of the cloves, for which purpose those on 

 the outside of the cluster should be used. These should be 

 planted in good rich soil in about the same way as onion 

 sets. They should be gathered after the bulb clusters are 

 well formed. This vegetable is scarcely used in the North ; 

 in southern European countries it is quite common. 

 It is said that it has a much stronger burning taste when 



