ONION 



459 



Early White Nocera Onion natural si/e). 



New Queen Onion. — Bulb small, very much flattened, silvery 

 white from i|- to if in. in diameter, and from | to 4 of an inch thick ; 

 neck fine, soon becoming green, if the bulbs are stored in the 

 expectation that they will keep ; leaves very short, dark, slightly 

 glaucous green, three or four, or at most five, in number when the 

 plant is fully grown. It is 

 not unusual to find, amongst 

 plants sown in spring, some 

 bulbs growing as large as 

 walnuts, and ripening without 

 forming more than two leaves. 

 This variety is an exceedingly 

 early one. If sown in March, 

 the bulbs begin to swell in the 

 course of the following May ; 

 but, on the other hand, it is 

 not at all a productive kind, nor does it keep well. 



Early White Nocera Onion. — This variety is probably only 

 a form of the preceding one which has been so modified by long- 

 continued cultivation in a colder climate than that of its native 

 district, as to have become larger in size and a little later in coming 

 to maturity. Bulb silvery white, flattened, broader and flatter than 

 that of the preceding kind, being from 2 to over 3 in. in diameter, 

 and from -| to i in. thick ; neck fine ; leaves few, dark green. In 

 spite of every care taken in the selection of plants for seed, a small 

 percentage of light brown or chamois-coloured bulbs will almost 

 always be produced. It is a very early kind, but at least three 



weeks later than the New 

 Queen Onion, and, like 

 that variety, keeps badly. 



Early Paris Silver- 

 skinned Onion. — Bulb 

 silvery white, flattened, 

 and of about the same 

 diameter as that of the 

 preceding kind — that is, 

 from 2 to over 3 in. — 

 but thicker, and formed 

 of more numerous and 

 more closely set coats ; 

 neck fine ; leaves of a 

 rather deep, slightly glaucous, green, and not numerous. This 

 vai-iety is not so early as the preceding one, but keeps better ; yet 

 the bulbs are almost always sent to table quite fresh, and most 

 frequently befoi^ they are fully grown. It is one of the best early 

 Onions, and very probably originated from one of the early South 



Early Paris Silver-skinned Onion Q natural size). 



