204 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



they can have plenty of air. When thoroughly dry they 

 can be strung in ropes, made by braiding the tops togeth- 

 er. From two to five hundred bushels per acre is the 

 usual crop. 



For seed. Select the largest and finest bulbs and plant 

 out in the fall, about twelve inches apart, in beds of com- 

 mon garden soil, not too rich. Keep them free from weeds ; 

 and when they throw up seed stalks, support them by 

 poles laid horizontally on stakes, six or eight inches above 

 the surface of the beds. Home-grown seed from good 

 bulbs is as good as the best imported. It will keep three 

 years, but the fresh grown seeds are preferable. Onion 

 buttons are grown in the same manner upon the Top Onion. 



Use. Onions are among the most useful products of the 

 garden. They are used especially as a flavoring ingredi- 

 ent and seasoning for soups, meats, and sauces ; for which 

 purpose they have been employed from time immemorial. 

 They contain considerable nutriment, and are tolerably 

 wholesome, especially if boiled. Onions, like all other 

 vegetables, need to be slightly salted while cooking, or 

 their sweetness will be mostly lost. Raw, they are not 

 very digestible, and they are the same if fried or roasted. 

 Eating a few leaves of parsley will destroy in a measure 

 the unpleasant smell they impart to the breath. 



ORACH. (Atriplex Hortensis.) 



A hardy annual, of the same natural family as the beet 

 and Jerusalem Oak, (Chenopodiacece) a native of Tar- 

 tary, and was first cultivated by English gardeners in 1548. 

 The stem rises three or four feet high, with oblong, various- 

 ly-shaped leaves, cut at the edges, thick, pale green, and 

 glaucous, and of slightly acid flavor ; flowers of same color 



