AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 159 



their seed, in a ball on the top of the stalk. The common wild 

 onion, so abundant in some dry lands, and so offensive in milk, 

 and butter, and flour, is a small and strong variety of this 

 species. 



To obtain top onion sets, plant the large onions, the growth 

 of the previous year, either in the fall or spring, at about six 

 inches apart, in rows a foot wide, and keep clean until the rip- 

 ening of the top sets, or seed, as it is more commonly termed, 

 which will be shown by the changing color of the stalks. 

 These sets, being carefully kept in a dry and cool, but not 

 freezing place, until early spring, are set out and cultivated in 

 the same manner as the common onion sets above described, p. 

 158, and yield their produce about the same time, or a little 

 earlier. 



For early use, the top onion, whether green or dry, is valua- 

 ble on account of its general mildness ; but it is also a little 

 soft or spongy in texture, and therefore not esteemed after the 

 coming in of the general crop of common onions. 



Of late years, quantities of them, of large size, are annually 

 brought early to Northern markets from Bermuda and the 

 South. 



POTATO ONIONS. 



Potato onions are so called from their habit of producing 

 their bulbs just below the surface of the ground. The large 

 roots of these onions are planted, in the same manner as above 

 directed for top onions, to furnish the sets, and these, in turn, 

 produce onions for use. Unless raised with special care, they 

 are apt to be strong and unpleasant. To have them good, it is 

 necessary to divide the sets in the spring until each has but a 

 single heart ; then set them out in very rich, light soil, at the 

 ordinary distance for onion sets, four inches apart in rows a foot 

 wide, and cultivate them faithfully by frequent hoeings and 

 top dressing, or the use of liquid manure (see p. 35), and they 

 will yield you fine large onions, of a very mild and agreeable 

 flavor. 



