ALLIACEOUS PLANTS.— THE ONION. 



31 



ill Egypt freely." — Numb. xi. 5. Egypt is to 

 this day famed for the superiority and sweet- 

 ness of its onions, in comparison with those of 

 , Europe — a result, by the way, with which cli- 

 mate may have much to do, as those of Por- 

 tugal are much more palatable than the same 

 variety grown in Britain ; and there is an evi- 

 dent difference, in respect to the mildness of 

 flavour, between those grown in Cornwall and 

 in the Highlands of Scotland. The onion must 

 be a native of the East ; and as mankind and 

 civilisation travelled westward, so they would 

 bring with them this ancient and popular pot 

 herb. The compiler of the last edition of the 

 " Hortus Britannicus," whose means and indus- 

 try in research were undoubtedly great, neither 

 gives the date of its introduction, nor states its 

 native country. It has, however, been an in- 

 mate of our British gardens as long as they de- 

 serve the appellation. Pliny, who mentions, in 

 book XX. chap. 5, aU the countries from whence 

 the Greeks as well as the Romans procured dif- 

 ferent varieties of this plant, says he could not 

 discover that they ever grew wild. 



Uses. — The uses to which the onion is ap- 

 plied in domestic economy are so many, and of 

 so varied a character, that a reference to a cook- 

 ery-book would be required to discover probably 

 one-half of them. Our present purpose may be 

 served by stating that, when fully grown, they 

 are used stewed alone, and also boiled and 

 roasted. In their young state, from the time 

 they are as large as an ordinary needle, until 

 they attain the height of five or six inches, they 

 are used in mixed salads, and for this purpose 

 they are sown once a-week throughout the sea- 

 son. When about the size of a writing-quill, 

 they are devoured in astonishing quantities by 

 the humbler classes, who eat them raw, with 

 bread and butter, or with bread and cheese. 

 Even when fully grown, the labourer finds a 

 wholesome relish in them, when cut into trans- 

 verse slices and eaten in the same manner. In 

 many parts of the Continent the humbler classes 

 of artisans bring with them in the morning a 

 small canvass-bag, containing a huge slice of 

 brown bread, a large apple, or a moderate-sized 

 onion. This homely fare forms his sustenance 

 throughout the day ; and he devours it with as 

 much gusto and satisfaction as the higher-fed 

 English labourer swallows his slice of home- 

 baked bread, with its usual accompaniment, a 

 rasher of raw bacon ; while the Caledonian of 

 the same status munches his piece of oat cake 

 (without Mtchen), and washes down the dry 

 morsel with a draught of Adam's wine. The 

 Scot is not avegetarian, and cannot be persuaded 

 to eat green m^at; and here, with all his shrewd- 

 ness and economy, he is at fault. We hope our 

 countrymen have not been led away by what 

 the author of the "Gryte Herbal" saith hereon: 

 ^" The onion being eaten, yea, though it be 

 boiled, causeth headache, hurteth the eyes, and 

 maketh a man dim-sighted; duUeth the senses, 

 engendereth windiness, and provoketh over- 

 much sleep, especially being eaten rawe. Being 

 rawe, they nourish not at all, and but a little 

 though they be boiled." 



The witty and satirical Dean Swift says — 



*' This is every cook's opinion, 

 No savoury disli witliout an onion ; 

 But lest your liissing should he spoiled. 

 Your onions should be thoroughly boiled.'' 



Our immortal bard did not overlook their tear- 

 bringing property. He says — 



** If the boy have not a woman's gift 

 To rain a shower of commanded tears. 

 An onion will do well." 



Mode of propagation. — The general mode 

 of propagating the onion is by seed. There 

 are a few of the species, however, which 

 do not ripen their seeds freely, and these 

 are propagated by other means. These 

 will be noticed in their rotation. 



The onion being with us an annual 

 crop, the seed system of propagation is 

 followed, and those varieties which are 

 propagated otherwise are, in general, 

 dependent on the bulbs which form on 

 the top of the stem, as in the case of what 

 is called the tree-bearing onion, from its 

 producing viviparous bulbs at the top 

 of the stalk, or in that of the potato- 

 onion, which produces offsets under 

 ground, rendering them capable of being 

 continued without the aid of seed. Some- 

 times, again, the very small and imper.- 

 fectly-formed bulbs are chosen for re- 

 planting, and from these fine crops of 

 large well-formed bulbs have been pro- 

 duced. There are other modes of propa- 

 gating the onion, but the processes of 

 them are so truly scientific as not to come 

 within the sphere of profitable culture. 

 Although usually treated as an annual 

 when grown for its bulb, or as a biennial 

 when cultivated for seed, it is, in fact, 

 naturally a perennial, and continues itself 

 by ofisets as well as by seed. The seed 

 usually germinates in about a fortnight 

 in ordinary mild weather. 



Planting and sowing. — The season for 

 sowing varies so much from the differ- 

 ence of the natural seasons, the wide 

 differences of soils, climates, and situa- 

 tions, that no precise date can be given 

 applicable to all places and circum- 

 stances. In our early days the 2d of 

 February was looked upon as the advent 

 of onion-sowing; of later years it has 

 been the middle of April before the ope- 

 ration could be commenced — a delay occa- 

 sioned solely in consequence of the ground-* 

 being either frozen or too much saturated 

 by wet. This delay, however, has less in- 

 fluence on the time at which the crop 

 comes to maturity than might be at first 



