308 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



500 flowers, comprising more than 50 separate samples. In this 

 instance practically every flower in the field was visited and polli- 

 nated, although no pollen had previously been transferred. This 

 observation demonstrated the necessity of great care to prevent cross- 

 pollination. Our variety tests with okra have shown that seed grow- 

 ers have not always succeeded in keeping the varieties separate, and 

 as a result there has been a gradual blending together of all the sorts. 

 In many of the samples all the sorts usually grown are represented. 



Uses. The principal use of okra is in soups and various culinary 

 preparations in which meats form an important factor, as in the 

 so-called gumbo soups, to which the young pods impart an excellent 

 flavor, besides giving a pleasant mucilaginous consistency. The 

 young seeds are occasionally cooked in the same way as green peas, 

 and the very young and tender pods are boiled and served as a salad 

 with French dressing. Both the stem and the mature pod contain a 

 fibre which is employed in the manufacture of paper. No copper, 

 brass, or iron cooking vessels should be employed in preparing okra, 

 as the metal will be absorbed and the pods discolored or even ren- 

 dered poisonous. The cooking should be done in agate, porcelain, or 

 earthen ware. (F. B. 232.) 



Varieties. There are three general types of okra, viz., tall green, 

 dwarf green, and lady finger. Each of these is again divided accord- 

 ing to the length and color of the pods, making in all six classes or 

 varieties, namely, tall green, long pod ; tall green, short pod ; dwarf 

 green, long pod; dwarf green, short pod; lady finger, white pod; 

 and lady finger, green pod. All variations from these are merely 

 the results of mixtures, no true crosses or hybrids being formed. 

 These mixtures are easily separated and referred to the parent type, 

 and a little attention to roguing and selection is necessary in order to 

 keep the varieties pure. It is essential that the parietal strain should 

 be pure in order that a uniform and marketable lot of pods may be 

 produced. (F. B. 232, 255; U. Id. E. S. 10.) 



ONIONS. 



The onion is exceptional in that it will thrive under a very wide 

 range of climatic and soil conditions. There is perhaps no extended 

 area in the United States, except the mountainous regions, where the 

 onion can not be successfully grown. For best results a temperate 

 climate without great extremes of heat and cold should be selected. 

 Onion culture is rarely profitable in regions where the climate does 

 not change or has no definite seasons of heat and cold or wet and dry. 

 Naturally the onion does best under rather cool conditions, with 

 plenty of moisture during its early stages, but requires a reasonable 

 degree of heat, together with dryness of both soil and atmosphere, for 

 its proper ripening. 



Soils. The essential requirements of a soil upon which to grow 

 onions profitably are a high state of fertility, good mechanical con- 

 dition in order that the crop may be easily worked, sufficient drainage, 

 and freedom from weeds. If a soil has tne proper mechanical proper- 

 ties that is, if it contains sufficient sand and humus to be easily 

 worked, is retentive of moisture and fertilizers, and is capable of 



