FOOD AND FLAVOR 195 



improved Italian varieties are so mild in taste 

 that they can be eaten like an apple. 



In experimenting with the chive I have natu- 

 rally not overlooked this quality, and some of 

 these improved varieties show a marked advance 

 upon its ancestors in regard to quality as in 

 regard to size of bulb and beauty of flower. 



Improving Other Alliums 



My work with the other members of the family 

 has been fairly extensive, inasmuch as I have 

 experimented first and last with about fifty 

 species of wild and cultivated Alliums from Eu- 

 rope, Asia, and America, especially Alaska, and 

 with various forms from Chile and from China. 



The onion, a member of this lily family, is an 

 interesting plant with which to work, and from 

 the fact that it shows a good measure of respon- 

 siveness. The wild onions are exceedingly vari- 

 able and the cultivated species no less so. 

 Indeed, this might be taken almost for granted 

 considering the long period during which the 

 onion has been under cultivation and the large 

 number of varieties that are in existence. 



In addition to the ordinary species with its 

 well-known qualities, there are numerous hand- 

 some flowering varieties of Alliums. And in the 

 Sierras there is also a variety growing along the 



