CHAPTBE VI 



BULB OR ONION CROPS 



Onion Oiboule or Welsh onion 



Leek Shallot 



Garlic Chive ' 



All the bulb crops are hardy, require a cool season and 

 moist rich soil with excellent surface tilth. Usually they 

 are not seed-bed crops. They require little room and may 

 be planted close. They are used both as main-season and 

 secondary crops. They are propagated both by seeds and 

 bulbs. , 



These crops are grown chiefly for the underground 

 bulbs; but the leaves are often used in stews and season- 

 ings. The onion is the only commercially important plant 

 in the above group in this country. Garlic, leek and the 

 others are known chiefly to citizens of foreign birth or to 

 those who grow products for the large cities. The onion, 

 however, is a major oleraceous crop, being grown under 

 large field conditions as well as habitually in the home 

 garden. These various vegetables are sometimes known 

 as alliaceous plants, from the Latin allium or alium, the 

 garlic; all of them belong to the genus Allium. 



Seeds of these plants are grown by planting over-win- 

 tered bulbs in spring. The bulbs should be planted two 

 or three inches deep, a few inches apart in the row. Seed- 



(140) 



