THE ONION. 643 



with about a fourth part of common sorrel. It may be raised from 

 seeds, or increased by division like the perennial spinach. 



The Sorrel. 



The Sorrel (Rumex, L.) is a polygonaceous genus, of which two 

 species have been long in cultivation for their leaves as salad. The 

 French sorrel (syn. Roman sorrel), or round-leaved sorrel (R. scutatus, 

 L.) is a perennial, a native of France and Italy ; and the common 

 garden sorrel (R. Acetosa, L.) is an indigenous perennial, common in 

 moist meadows. The leaves of both species are used in soups, sauces, 

 and salads; and very generally by the French and Dutch as a spinach; 

 in the latter way it is often used along with Herb-patience, to which 

 it gives an excellent flavour, as well as to Orache, turnip-tops, nettle- 

 tops, and those of Jack-by -the-h edge. There are several varieties of 

 the common sorrel, but that most esteemed is the large-leaved, de 

 Belleville, Fr. The mild-leaved (R. montanus H. P.) is a dioecious 

 species, of which the leaves are smaller and less acid than those of R. 

 Acetosa. All the kinds are propagated by division or by seeds, and 

 they may be grown in rows eighteen inches apart, and a foot distant 

 in the row ; lifting a portion of the plantation every year after the 

 flowering season, when the plants are in a comparatively dormant 

 state, dividing them, and replanting. If this is neglected for two or 

 three years, the plants will become large and crowded, produce only 

 small leaves, rot in the centre, and ultimately die off. Wherever French 

 cookery is in demand, a considerable breadth of sorrel will be re- 

 quired, and to produce the leaves in a succulent state the soil ought to 

 be rich, loamy, and kept moist. 



Alliaceous Esculents. 



The alliaceous esculents in cultivation in British gardens are 

 chiefly the onion, leek, shallot, and garlic; but there are also the 

 chive and the rocambole. They are all asphodelaceous perennials 

 belonging to the genus Allium, L. They all require a rich, loamy 

 soil and an open situation ; the onion, shallot, and leek crops occupy 

 a considerable proportion of every garden, and they may follow either 

 the cabbage tribe or some of the leguminosae ; they are all more or 

 less subject to the onion-fly, which is described under the heading 

 of the onion. 



The Onion. 



The Common Onion (Allium Cepa, L.), is an asphodelaceous bulbous 

 perennial, the native country of which is unknown, but its culture is 

 as old as the history of the human race, and as extensive as civiliza- 

 tion. The common onion, though treated as an annual when grown 

 for its bulb, and as a biennial when grown for seed, is yet as much a 

 perennial as the garlic, and, like it, produces offsets the second year, 

 though not in such abundance. The Welsh onion, potato onion, and 

 bulb-bearing onion, are different species, or very distinct varieties, 



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