GARDEN VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS 323 



So is that of the parsnip, which resembles the carrot; while 

 the salsify, of which we eat the root, is a kind of sunflower 

 with a pretty yellow bloom. The chicory, with a pretty blue 

 flower, is grown for its root, which is used to color or to 

 adulterate coffee. 



The onion tribe, with its many kinds, is among the most 

 anciently cultivated plants. This is especially true of the 

 garlic, the common onion, and the shalot, all of which prob- 

 ably came from western and middle Asia to Europe on the 

 West, and to China on the East. The intense flavor of garlic 

 seems to have made it more particularly liked by southern 

 people, while the onion and shalot have found more favor 

 in northern countries. Cultivation has changed the small 

 bulb of the wild onion (of the Kirghis Steppe) into the great 

 Weathersfield onion, sometimes six inches wide and weigh- 

 ing a pound. The numerous small bulbs or " cloves" of 

 garlic grow around the base of the parent stem, while of the 

 shalot only the stems and leaves are used for flavoring. 



Individuals and nations differ widely in their liking for 

 these vegetables, some eating the onion bulbs and cloves of 

 garlic raw, while others like only a slight flavoring. 



Onions are mostly propagated from seed, but often from 

 bulblets borne in place of flowers by some varieties. Garlic 

 is partly sown as seed, partly grown from single "cloves." 

 Shalots are grown from seed. 



The chive is a small onion plant, about six inches high, 

 which is found all over the world and is used for flavoring. 

 Its native country is not known, and small kinds closely 

 resembling it are found wild more or less all over the United 

 States. These small wild onions are very unwelcome in pas- 

 ture grounds, because they give their flavor to the milk of 

 the cows, so that dairying has been abandoned in some 

 regions where they grow in abundance, 



