SHALLOT 



655 



True Shallot. 



point, and covered with a russet-coloured skin, of a coppery red 

 colour in the lower part, shading off into gray towards the upper 

 extremity, and often wrinkled lengthways. The outer skin is thick 

 and tough. When the dried 

 coats are taken off, the bulb is 

 greenish at the base, and violet- 

 coloured at the top. Leaves 

 small, very green, and 10 to 

 12 in. long. This variety, which 

 is more extensively grown than 

 any other, has the advantage 

 of keeping very well. At the 

 Central Market, in Paris, some 

 sub-varieties of it are met with, 

 viz.— 



Echalote Petite Hdtive de 

 Bagnolet. — Somewhat smaller 

 than the type or true variety, and produces a great number of 

 cloves to each plant. 



E. Grosse de Noisy. — Bulb the size of a small fig. This variety 

 keeps well, and has a very thick tough skin. It does not multiply 

 so much as the other kinds. 



E. Hdtive de Niort. — This is somewhat larger than the True 

 Shallot, which it very much resembles in other respects, but 

 commences to grow sooner. 



It is easy to perceive that these three forms are only slight 

 modifications of the True Shallot 



Jersey, or False, Shallot. — Bulbs short, almost always irregular 

 in shape, but sometimes perfectly rounded and broader than long, 

 when they quite resemble a small Onion ; skin coppery red, thin, 

 and easily torn. The bulb, when stripped of the dried coats, is 



entirely violet-coloured, the tint 

 being somewhat paler than 

 that of the True Shallot. The 

 leaves are distinguished by 

 their very peculiar glaucous 

 hue. The bulbs do not keep 

 so well as those of the True 

 Shallot, and commence to grow 

 sooner in spring. The Jersey 

 Shallot flowers and seeds pretty 

 regularly, the seed exactly re- 

 sembling Onion seed. Indeed, 

 in all the characteristics of its growth, this plant resembles an 

 Onion, amongst which it might be classed after the Potato Onion. 

 Another variety has been mentioned under the name of 



Jersey Shallot. 



