OKRA. ONION. 213 



cipal root is cut off. Oaks raised from the acorn without 

 removing, on account of the tap-root striking down into" 

 the ground, where there is less nourishment, grow slowly, 

 but are, when they arrive at timber, the best ; being gene- 

 rally fuller at heart, and more strong and lasting. Oak 

 plants of one or two years' growth, after they have taken 

 root, are often cut off a little above the ground, if they are 

 stunted or crooked, and the second shoot is trusted to for 

 the tree ; as it is found to grow with greater luxuriance 

 than the first. 



OKRA. Hibiscus esculentus. A valuable garden plant, 

 easily propagated by seeds sown in May. It is said to be 

 excellent in cookery, as a sauce. Its ripe seeds, burned, 

 and used as coffee, can scarcely be distinguished there- 

 from. It should be planted about an inch deep, and hoed 

 two or three times, like peas. M'Mahon says, " It may be 

 sown with certainty of success at the time that Indian corn 

 is planted. Draw drills about an inch deep, and four feet 

 asunder, into which drop the seeds at the distance of eight 

 inches from one another, or rather drop two or three in 

 each place, lest one should not grow, and cover them an 

 inch in depth. As they advance in growth, earth them up 

 two or three times as you do peas, and they will produce 

 abundantly." 



ONION. Allium cepa. The common bulbous onion is 

 a biennial plant, supposed to be a native of Asia. There 

 are many varieties of this plant. Those mentioned in Mr. 

 Russell's Catalogue are the following : 



White Portugal. 

 Yellow, 

 Genuine Madeira, 



Top or tree onion, 



Silver-skinned, 



Strasburgh, 



Large red, 

 Potato onion. 



The Strasburg is most generally adopted for principal 

 crops. The silver-skinned is reckoned among the best 

 for pickling. " The top or tree onion has the remarkable 

 property of producing the onions at the top of the stalk, 

 and is valuable for domestic use, particularly for pickling, 

 in which they are excellent, and superior in flavour to the 

 common kinds. It is also used for any other purpose that 

 onions usually are. It is perennial, and propagated by 

 planting the bulbs m spring or autumn, either the roots, 

 ^bulbs, or those on the top of the stalks." RusseIVs Cata- 

 logue. 



Soil and culture. The onion, " to attain a good size, re- 

 quires rich, mellow ground, on a dry sub-soil. If the soil be 

 poor or exhausted, recruit it with a compost of fresh loam 



