113G ON 



and tliiril thinniiit,s m n I 

 loJO Itii\erj iiupoitaut 

 be used, for the Ouiou dtt 

 which ifs not well grown no 



ONION 



Kit from ^ 



1528 The 





Globe, and these are also to be advised for the main 

 reliance in the home garden. For early use and for 

 variety, great numbers of kinds may be selected from 

 reliable seed catalogues. Some of the quick-growing 

 southern Onions are excellent for early use. 



There are two general methods of propagating the 

 Onion— by seeds and by bulbs. Onion seed is ordinarily 

 known as "black seed," although there is no Onion seed 

 which is not black. The main field crop is grown from 

 seeds, as explained in the articles which follow. The 

 Onion seed of the market is produced from full grown 

 and typical bulbs of the desired variety. These bulbs 

 are grown from seed and are kept over winter as other 

 Onions are. In the spring they are planted out in rows 

 two feet apart and as near together in the row as they 

 will stand. Tliev send up a flower stalk which blooms 

 In early summer,' ud.I the scnl is liaiv.-steil. 



Propagation by ImiII.s is irii|il..y(il fur tlie purpose of 

 securing early Onions fur humc use ur for the special 

 early-season tradi-. lentil witiiin rci-int years, all the 

 very early or bunch Onions were raised from bulbs, but 

 recently a so-called "new Onion culture" has come into 

 vogue, which consists in sowing seeds in hotbeds or 

 coldframes and transplanting the young plants. Bulb- 

 propagation is of three general categories: (1} The use 

 of bulblets or "top Onions" which appear on the top of 

 the flower-stalk in the place of flowers; (2) the use 

 of bulbels or separable parts of an Onion bulb, known 

 as "multipliers," or "potato Onions"; (Ji) the use of 

 ordinary bulbs which are arrested in their growth, 

 known as "sets." 



Bulblets, or top Onions, are shown in Fig. IS.'il. If 

 one of the'^e bulblets is planted in th( sprini^, it 

 quK klv produces a young bulb \nil the giowing bulb 

 majbi pnlli d at any 

 tnne and taten If 

 allowi d to remain 

 in the ground, how- 

 e\ er, it sends up 

 a stalk (either the 

 .-Iv- ./.d-^^tfJT.^i^L^i x^^-. tirstoi second year) 

 yt " '' ^ '"^^^W^ ^ ^vhich bears a clus- 

 t:^^ ^ ^J^ terof bulblets, 



sometimes mixed 

 152J IhLiirv tim Onion field With flowers, on Its 

 top Th.reaiPtwo 

 or three strains of top Onions on the nni K t iltli m^h 

 the leading ones are the white and the red Ih ^ n inn s 

 applying to the color of the bulblets. '111. su.jllid 

 "Egyptian Onion "is a top Onion; al.so the "tru.- i in ion." 

 Multipliers are shown in Fig. 1532-3. Instc.'id ii{ con- 

 taining a single "heart" or core, as in most Onions, it 

 contains two or more. When the Onion is planted, each 

 of these cores or bulbels sends out leaves and grows 

 rapidly for a time; that is, the old or compound bulb 

 separates into its component part-s. The growing 

 bulbels may be pulled and eaten at any time. If allowed 

 to remain in the ground, each of these bulbels will make 



came. Some- 



1 I t ( )ni n Tin' ht-st results with multipliers are 

 111 I «li 11 ilic liiill.cls are separated on being 

 I I 11 I i 1 I h i.iie h.is room in which to grow. Two 

 1 llii 1 111 Is of niiiltiplier Onions are known, the 

 \aiiation bung chiefly in the color of the bulb. 



Onion sets are merely ordinary Onions which are 

 arrested in their growth, and when planted will resume 

 gionth The} are grown from seed. The .soid is 

 s ^ n M rv thu k on rather poor laiiil, " In ii I)ji\uiHig 

 lull i_n resich the possibilities ui !l, i I : ilny 



mature when still vi i\ -i 1 I, . iii.iil 



bulbs or sets an- thrn li.u ,. :,.i ;u.,l k, pt 



rill-,' Wlirii planted they grow rapidly 

 lay lie ]iull.(l anil used for the table. 

 .will tu 11 main in the ground, they 

 np lluvMi- stalks and produce seeds, 

 niniuii iiiiiuns do. Sets are not allowed 

 t il, huu, vir, since the seeds from sets 



» III 1 pruiialily produce an inferior race of 

 I I 1 lis. Any vaiiety of seed-bearing Onion 

 111 i> be grown and propagated as sets, al- 

 though there are relatively few that give uni- 

 fiirmly good results. In tlie trade, Onion sets are usu- 

 ally designated as yellow, red or white. In order to 

 secure good results truu, i iiii..,. ^ets. it is essential that 



the sets be small ■ ini,, I I,, v should not be over 



one-half inch in .li., ■ : ,' are of the best. If 



they are much lar;: I I ;. i i . i In y tend to run to seed 

 rather than to pmilnc . !.iilii~. ^uinitimes the very small 

 and inferior Onions -ire saved from the regular crop 

 and are used as sets the following spring. Such sets 

 are generally kno\\n as "larenpes " Usually they do 

 not give the best results 



The varieties ot Onions are numerous. In 1889 

 (Annals Hort ) 78 \ unties of "s.td' Onions were 



:l- f • 



1530. Bunch Onions from 



early spring sowine* 



offered by American dealers, and also about 20 kinds 

 of multipliers, potato Onions and sets. For purposes of 

 careful scientific study, the varieties maybe classiticd 

 into geographical races, but for purposes of dtscriplit n 

 they may be assembled into groups characterized hy 

 such arbitrary features as form and color vi bulb. 



