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USES AND CULTURE OF THE ONION. 



The name onion is from unio, the Latin signifying that the bulb 

 or cloves are united. It has been much subject to the caprice of fash- 

 ion and medical criticism ; still it has continued to be a common, and 

 perhaps the most important seasoning herb for meats from the earliest 

 periods. No flavoring substance is now more in use in cooking. It 

 imparts a savory, fragrant and delicious taste to every culinary pre- 

 paration in which it is used; it also affords considerable nutriment, 

 and possesses important medical properties. The laboring classes in 

 every country are especially fond of the onion; and the quantities they 

 consume, both of this and other species of the garlic, are very great ; 

 although, in northern climates, it is not easily digested, but remains 

 oftentimes a day or two in the stomach. It is eaten raw, but most 

 commonly in this country, boiled and served up with white sauce or 

 melted butter. The scent of onions is removed by eating a few raw 

 leaves of parsley, and their digestion is thus assisted ; vinegar does 

 the same. The water should be changed when onions are about half 

 boiled, the second water being in a boiling state from a tea-kettle. 

 This greatly improves their quality. Fried onions are not more easily 

 digested than raw ones, and neither are much eaten except by gross 

 feeders. They should be chopped fine when used for stuffing geese, 

 ducks, or any other meats, in connection with sage, &c. When chop- 

 ped, they are boiled for 6 or 8 minutes, put into a cullender to drain, 

 then pressed till no water remains, mixed with chopped sage, &c. 

 Roasted onions are less wholesome than fried ones ; and, as with 

 these, should be eaten sparingly by those with weak stomachs. 



The onion flourishes well in southern parts of New England, and is 

 there greatly cultivated and exported. Mellow, sandy, and somewhat 

 moist soil or gravelly loam, is preferred, requiring, as they do, much 

 heat and considerable moisture. Soot and yard manure is recommend- 

 ed near the surface. Ashes are also spread over them after sowing, 

 if the soil is not very sandy. They impoverish the soil but little, if 

 any ; and they often continue to improve upon it, with manure. 

 The ground is dug or ploughed thinly in autumn, made fine and the 

 seed sown the last of April. They are commonly sown in beds, 4 

 rows of holes in each, 10 inches apart, and 10 holes in the rows. 5 

 or 6 seeds, if good, are placed in a hole, and covered an inch deep. 

 They also grow quite as well in drill-rows, a foot apart. Or, make 

 the drills 8 or 10 inches apart, and drop the seeds at the intersecting 

 angles. By the use of the drill-plough in field culture, half the labor 

 may be saved. A better mode is probably that pursued in England. 

 The ground being dug and levelled, manure in a rotted state is spread 

 upon it, and the seed is sown on this and covered thinly by earth from 

 the alleys, and a roller passed over it. Crops are very productive this 

 way. In fields they are sown broad-cast, and thinned gradually for 

 use, out of the 1st crop; the 2d remaining for planting out in spring. 



