650 ALLIACEOUS ESCULENTS. 



separate into cloves. These are used like the bulbs of onions, in soups 

 and stews, and in a raw state cut small, as sauce to steaks and chops ; 

 and sometimes a clove or two is put into winter salads, more especially 

 potato salad. The best variety is the Long-keeping, which will remain 

 good for two years. Propagation is effected by dividing the bulb into 

 its separate cloves, and planting and managing these in all respects 

 like the potato-onion. The soil should be rich, and particular care taken 

 to guard against the onion-fly, by the means already indicated. Plant 

 on the surface of firm ground, earth up a little at first, and as soon as 

 the roots take hold, remove the soil with the hoe, and water abundantly, 

 to check the ravages of the maggot. The bulbs, if planted in March, or, 

 as is sometimes done, in the preceding November, will be ready for use 

 towards the end of July, and the crop may be taken up in September 

 and harvested like onions. A sufficient quantity of the smallest cloves 

 ought to be selected for sets for the following year. 



The Garlic. 



The Garlic (Allium sativum,L.) is a bulbous-rooted perennial, a native 

 of the South of Europe, long in cultivation for flavouring meats, arid 

 for various sauces and ragouts. In many parts of Europe, particularly 

 in France and Spain, the peasantry rub garlic over the slices of their 

 black bread as a seasoning, and think the bread so prepared delicious. 

 The bulb divides into cloves like the shallot, and is cultivated exactly in 

 the same manner. The leaves begin to wither in August, and the bulbs 

 may be taken up in September, dried, and laid in an airy loft, or tied up 

 in ropes. 



The Chive. 



The Chive (Allium Schcenoprasum, L.) is a bulbous perennial, a 

 native of Britain, in meadows and pastures, but rare. It has been 

 long in cultivation for its leaves, which are used in spring salads, in 

 soups, omelets, and generally as a substitute for young onions. The 

 bulbs are very small, and seldom applied to any culinary purpose. The 

 plant flowers in May,-and after the leaves have begun to decay in June, it 

 may be taken up and divided, and planted in rows one foot by six inches ; 

 but as the chive is little used except in cottage-gardens, a very few plants 

 are sufficient, and these may be planted in the herb-ground in the slip. 

 If kept cut so as to prevent its flowering, it will succeed for several 

 years in the same spot. No cottage- garden ought to be without the 

 chive : it forms one of the most wholesome herbs for chopping up and 

 mixing among the food for young chickens, ducks, turkeys making 

 them thrive wonderfully, and preventing that pest the gripes. 



The Rocambole. 



The Rocambole (Allium Scorodoprasum, L.) is a bulbous perennial, 

 a native of Denmark, formerly cultivated for the same purposes as 

 garlic, but now comparatively neglected. It differs from garlic in 

 having the bulbs smaller, milder to the taste, and in producing bulbs 

 on the joints of the stem, as well as at its base. 



