ONIONS. 



131 



year, when they will give a much earlier crop than those 

 grown from seed. 



Varieties. — For general field crops in this section no onion 

 is more certain than Red Wethersfield. The Yellow Danvers is 

 the best yellow kind for this purpose. The earliest maturing 

 large kind is Extra Early Red. For raising sets the Yellow 

 Dutch, called also Yellow Strasburg, is the best kind, but any 

 variety may be used for this purpose. For growing in hotbeds, 

 greenhouses or window boxes to be transplanted to the open 

 ground, the Prizetaker and Southport Yellow Globe are most in 

 demand. 



Potato Onions and Shallots are always grown from the bulbs, 

 which increase in size and also produce a cluster of bulbs 

 (cloves) around the one that is planted. They are especially 

 adapted to early marketing in the same way as onion sets. 



Egyptian, or Perennial Tree, Onion. — This kind is perfectly 

 hardy and does not form bulbs, but the bleached stem is used in 

 a green state. It produces no seed, but instead has a small clus- 

 ter of bulblets where the seed cluster should be. These bulb- 

 lets are planted in September in the same way as recommended 

 for onion sets and are ready for use as bunch onions very early 

 the following season. 



Top Onions is a name applied to a class of onions that pro- 

 duce no seed, but where the seed should be have a cluster of 

 small bulbs. These small bulbs when planted grow into large 

 common onions and when these common onions are planted they 

 produce a crop of sets. 



Onion Seed is raised by planting out the bulbs in the spring 

 in rows four feet apart, and for this purpose, bulbs of the great- 

 est excellence are used. It is best to set the bulbs about 

 six inches deep and six inches apart in each furrow, and to do 

 this planting out very early in the spring. The seed stalks will 

 attain a height of about three feet. The seed clusters ripen 

 somewhat unevenly, but should be gathered before they are quite 

 dry, or the seed will shell out and be lost. When gathered, they 

 should be dried in airy chambers and afterwards threshed out 

 and cleaned with a fanning mill or they may be cleaned by being 

 thrown into water. The latter method secures the best seed. 



