162 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



It has a stem several inches high, but the top does not expand 

 and is one of the most delicious of all the mushroom tribe when 

 young. It is called the maned agaric {Coprinus comatus. ) It 

 grows in waste and grassy places, lawns and meadows. The 

 gills (layers on the under part of the head) are at first white 

 or pink, melting into an inky fluid-like substance when more 

 mature. Only young specimens are desirable for table use. 

 Little attention has ever been paid in this country to 

 growing our native species. They could undoubtedly be 

 propagated by digging up some of the earth where they grow 

 abundantly and mixing it with the soil where it is desired to 

 grow them. The kinds mentioned mature in the latter part of 

 summer and are especially abundant in old pastures or other 

 places containing much decaying organic matter and during 

 moist weather. If an attempt was made to grow them, it 

 would probably be necessary to keep the ground moist all 

 summer to secure the best results. 



ONIONS. {Allium Cepa.) 



Native of Central or Western Asia. — Biennial, sometimes 

 perennial. — The original home of the onion is not known. 

 It has no true stem, but this is represented by the base of the 

 bulb. The form, color and shape of onions vary greatly in 

 different varieties. The free portion of the leaves is elongated 

 and swollen in the lower part. The flowers, which are white 

 or lilac in color, are borne in dense, round heads on long, 

 slender, hollow stalks; sometimes, instead of flowers, a head 

 of small bulbs is produced and no seed at all. This may oc- 

 cur occasionally in all kinds but is the almost invariable 

 characteristic of the tree onion. The seeds are black, angular 

 and flatfish. Usually the plant after seeding dies and disap- 

 pears entirely, but sometimes seed onions produce peculiar 

 pointed bulbs, called cloves, as well as seeds. Such plants 

 may be considered perennial as well as the potato onion, 

 which never seeds and is propagated by the division of its 

 bulbs. The onion has been cultivated from remote antiquity, 

 and there are very many varieties that have been developed 

 for different purposes. These are almost without exception 

 grown for their bulbs, but in a few cases no bulbs are formed. 

 The bulbs in color are white, red and yellow, with inter- 



