ONION 



471 



from America under the name of the Catawissa Onion, which 

 appears to us to be only a slight modification of the Tree Onion, 

 from which it is distinguished by the great vigour of its growth 

 and the rapidity with which the bulblets commence to grow 

 without being detached from the top of the stem. These have 

 hardly attained their full size when they emit stems which also 

 produce bulblets, and in favourable seasons this second tier of 

 bulblets will emit green shoots, leaves, or barren stems, bringing 

 the height of the plant up to over 2\ ft. Only a small number of 

 bulblets (two or three on 

 each stem) emit shoots. The 

 rest do not sprout in the 

 first year and can be used 

 for propagating the plant. 

 The plant is perennial, and 

 may be propagated by 

 division of the tufts, like the 

 Welsh Onion. 



Potato Onion. — Bulb 

 rather large, from 2 to over 

 3 in. in diameter, and about 

 2 in. thick ; skin thick and 

 of a coppery yellow colour. 

 This variety more frequently 

 forms a cluster of under- 

 ground bulbs of irregular 

 shape than a single round 

 bulb. It produces neither 



seeds nor bulblets, and is Catawissa Onion natural size). 



propagated only from the 



cloves or bulbs which are formed underground. If pretty strong 

 cloves are planted immediately after winter, well-grown Onions 

 may be gathered from them in the following June ; but if the 

 plants are allowed to attain full maturity, instead of a single 

 bulb from each, seven or eight will be produced of various sizes. 

 The strongest of these will also in their turn produce a number of 

 bulbs or cloves, while the weaker ones generally grow into a single 

 large bulb. The flesh of the Potato Onion is very agreeable to 

 the taste and of good quality. The larger the bulbs are, the worse 

 they keep. 



Among the very numerous varieties of Onions which exist 

 in addition to those just described, the following are the most 

 noteworthy : — 



Ognon d'Aigre. — A local variety, grown in the Department of 

 Charente, which may be .regarded as a sub-variety of the Niort 

 Pale Red Onion, but has a flatter bulb. 



