CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 381 



adaptation to different soils and climatic conditions and 

 its general use the year round for culinary purposes 

 properly give it a place among our most useful vege- 

 tables. It is universally planted in the home garden and 

 the commercial areas occupy thousands of acres. The 

 crop offers special inducements for the employment of 

 intensive methods, as the possibilities of profit are 

 greater than for most classes of vegetables. 



529. Varieties. In the selection of varieties the fol- 

 lowing factors should be considered: (i) Time of matu- 

 rity. Earliness is often an important matter. (2) The 

 size of the bulb. (3) Color of the bulb. The eastern 

 markets prefer yellow and white onions, although a con- 

 siderable, quantity of red onions is grown and sold in the 

 East. Red onions sell best in the Middle West. (4) The 

 shape of the bulb. Globular-shaped onions are pre- 

 ferred on all markets. (5) The quality of the bulbs. The 

 foreign types are known to be milder and more tender 

 than the domestic sorts. (6) Keeping qualities. Amer- 

 ican onions keep much better than the foreign types. 

 (7) Soil adaptation. (U. S. D. A. Farmers' Bulletin 

 354, p. 29.) Yellow and red onions are especially well 

 adapted to muck soils. Red and brown varieties thrive 

 on prairie soils, and all classes do well on sandy loams 

 and light soils. Bermuda, Spanish, and Egyptian types 

 flourish on the deep, rich alluvial soils. (8) The yield- 

 ing power. Some varieties produce many more bushels 

 an acre than others. (9) Climatic adaptation. (10) 

 Shipping qualities, or the degree of injury or damage 

 sustained from bruises, (n) Purpose for which the 

 onions are grown, whether for large bulbs, pickling or 

 bunching. 



AMERICAN VARIETIES 



DANVERS (Danvers Yellow, Round Yellow Danvers, 

 Yellow Globe Danvers) is the most largely grown of the 



