Quality Even in the Onion Tribe—By Effe M. Barron, 3% 
New 
THE FIFTH ARTICLE IN THE SERIES OF QUALITY VEGETABLES FOR THE HOME TABLE, IN WHICH ARE TOLD 
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE BEST FLAVORED TYPES, AND THE BEST WAYS OF PREPARING THEM FOR USE 
Y IDEAL good onion is one that is 
either oval or spherical in shape, 
compact and firm, with small, short neck. 
It must be of good, clean appearance, with 
an evenly colored, thin, unbroken skin. 
The flesh must be mild and crisp, and long 
keeping. 
Thick-necked bulbs do not keep so well 
as those with thin necks. You can- 
not always grow thin necks, however, 
and though the stock of the seed may 
have something to do with this, still the 
trouble is not one that can be surely con- 
trolled. 
Onions grown on a rich and fertile soil, 
in a climate warm and equable, are sweetest 
and mildest in flavor—so much so that they 
can be eaten out of hand, like an apple, 
raw. 
HOW TO GET THE BEST ONIONS 
To obtain the best quality in onions, they 
must be grown with scrupulous care as to 
fineness and richness of soil. You cannot 
get any sort of well-shaped bulb in a rough 
coarse soil. 
Onions thrive best in a very rich soil, 
firmly trodden down, allowing only about 
three inches loose on the top, to plant them 
in. As a rule, seed is sown thinly in the 
open ground, where the plants are to grow, 
and the plantlets thinned as necessary. If 
sown in the fall (November) they give an 
early crop of ‘‘bunch” or ‘‘spring”’ onions, 
and are then especially welcome as salading, 
being one of the first of the refreshing raw 
“green stuffs’? ready after the heavy win- 
ter fare. 
Under what is called the “new onion 
culture,’ the seeds are started in heat in 
Onions that have run to flower are useless for 
Storing. Bend over the tops, so as to break the neck 
before it has grown too far 
the early spring (January and February) 
and transplanted outdoors, after danger of 
frost is past, the young plants being gradu- 
ally hardened off first. They must not 
suffer any check when transplanting, the 
secret of success in this system being to 
keep the seedlings growing right along, 
otherwise the bulbs will not keep well. In 
either case weeding must be done system- 
atically and cultivation begun early and 
kept up all the time. And remember, one 
of the worst weeds in the onion bed is 
likely to be—onions! Give them plenty of 
room. 
When the onions are ripe, the tops will 
give signs by falling and bending prior to 
The giant Spanish onion, pale yellow, sometimes 
four inches in diameter, like most mild-flavored ones, 
does not Keep well. Prizetaker, the American form 
of this, is the best all-round onion for home use 
decay. At that time go over the bed, 
breaking the top at the neck. This causes 
the onion to ‘‘plump up,” becoming firm 
and compact, and consequently improving 
its keeping qualities. Toward the end of 
September the bulbs are dug or pulled up, 
and left on the ground, exposed to the air, 
for a day or two if the weather is dry; but 
do not leave well ripened and well dried 
bulbs outdoors to get wet, as they will start 
growing again. If this happens, their 
keeping qualities are ruined. 
The easiest, and perhaps the best, way for 
the home gardener to follow in growing 
onions is to use sets which may be bought 
at the seed stores. These are small onion 
bulbs, specially grown. Seed is sown later 
than for the regular crop that is to mature 
this year—generally about the end of May— 
and seeding is thick, so as to crowd the 
young plants, and a sandy, inferior soil is 
selected. The whole idea is to raise a 
small, solid bulb that will keep over winter, 
for replanting in the spring. The small sets 
are harvested in August, and kept exactly as 
are the large bulbs. The smaller the set, the 
better, although for home use the matter 
of size is not important. Overgrown sets 
are used as pickling onions. The light- 
294 
skinned varieties are preferred for this pur- 
pose, the White Globe being a special fay- 
orite. 
PROBLEMS OF KEEPING 
It is no use trying to keep soft, growing 
onions. They simply will not keep. The 
red-skinned varieties are the best keeping. 
The yellow skins rank next; then the 
whites. After digging and drying for a 
few days the bulbs are put into a cool, dry, 
well-ventilated cellar or store room. See 
that the bulbs are perfectly ripe, and quite 
dry. An excellent way to keep them is to 
tie them in “hanks,” and hang them 
up. To tie, use rafha; beginning at one 
end, tie in a cylinder-shaped bundle, eigh- 
teen inches to two feet in length, finish 
with a loop, and hang up. Thus treated, 
and suspended from the roof, they are out 
of the way, leaving shelf room for other 
things. Never pack in deep bins or piles. 
Handle them just like other bulbs, allowing 
plenty of air to play around. Look over 
the stored bulbs from time to time, and 
pick out bad ones, so as to prevent the dis- 
ease from running to the others. Scallions— 
onions that are all neck and no bulb—are 
useless for storing. 
PREPARATION FOR THE TABLE 
The strongest-flavored onions are best 
used for seasoning and sauces. Use the 
white onions for white soups and sauces; 
the red and yellow varieties for brown 
The 
Chives, the dwarf member of the family. 
green leaves, chopped fine, are used in salads. Will 
grow well in a sunny window 
