THE ONION 95 
Are they the same thickness at both ends and in 
the middle ? 
Where are they thickest? 
Are all the plates equally thick ? 
Which are thinner, the inside ones, or the outside ? 
How thick is the last outside plate ? 
13. Now raise the shoot with a pin or a toothpick and 
see if you can make out the lony, thin leaves, lying 
one wmside the other. 
Cross Section 
i4. Cut a cross section of the second onion. Notice the 
one or two (sometimes three) yellow-green spots. 
Look at the vertical section and tell what these 
spots are. 
Notice the concentric rings around the shoot or 
shoots. Are all these rings the same width? 
Where are they narrowest ? 
15. Look carefully at the sprout. The lines you see 
show the leaves. Note how these leaves lie one 
inside the other. 
16. Take the top half of the onion in your left hand. 
With your right, lift off the paper cap. Next lift 
off the ‘tent,’ which is the layer just under the 
paper cap. 
