460 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Italian varieties, which, when grown in the cHmate of Paris, exhibit 

 a tendency to become identical with this variety. 



Early White Valence Onion.— Bulb not so broad as that of 

 the preceding kind, but thicker and larger, being less than 3 in. in 



diameter, and from if to 

 2 in. thick ; leaves rather 

 numerous, of a yellow- 

 green colour. This variety 

 is rather early and pro- 

 ductive, and the bulbs are 

 tender, but do not keep 

 well. It is more suitable 

 for the southern than for 

 the northern parts of 

 France. As regards its 

 origin, it is more likely 

 that it is a smaller and 

 earlier form of the White 



Early White Valence Onion (-^ natural size) 



Lisbon Onion than that it has sprung from any of the kinds which 

 have been previously described. 



White Round Dutch Onion. — Bulb a dull white, medium-sized, 

 very firm, with thick tough coats, and varying from 2 to nearly 3 in. 

 in diameter, and from li to if in. in thickness. It is not so much 

 flattened as that of either the Early White Nocera or the Early 

 Paris Silver-skinned Onion, and is also somewhat later than these 

 varieties, but, on the other hand, it 

 keeps remarkably well. In this re- 

 spect it will bear comparison with 

 the good yellow or red varieties of 

 Onions. It is distinguished from the 

 white varieties hitherto described by 

 the outer coats of the bulb being 

 firm and tough, instead of being of 

 a delicate, brittle, and almost trans- 

 parent texture. In consequence of 

 this peculiarity the bulbs keep better, 

 and are never disfigured by the 

 greenish tinge which exposure to 

 the sun often produces on the bulbs 

 of the very early white varieties 

 of Onions. The American White 

 Po7'tugal^ or American Silver-skin, 

 Onion is so much like the White Round Hard Dutch Onion that 

 some consider the two to be identical. The White Portugal, 

 however, has generally the bulbs larger and more regular, though 

 not so firm as the Dutch variety. 



White Round Dutch Onion 

 (•J natural size). 



