'I50 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



THE ONION FAMILY 



The onion is a native of Western and Central 

 Asia, from which territory it came into cultivation, 

 and spread, in various forms, through Europe, 

 and eastward to China. In America, Gray de- 

 scribed six native species of wild onion, and one 

 species brought from Europe. Dairymen dread 

 the appearance of these weeds in pasture land, 

 for if cows crop the stringy leaves, milk and 

 butter are tainted with the peculiar onion 

 flavor. What looks like a patch of tender 

 grass in open woods in early spring often turns 

 out to be wild onion. Once established, the 

 colony is hard to keep from spreading in gardens 

 and fields. 



Improvement in this species has made the bulb 

 bigger, more tender and more delicate in flavor. 

 A "scullion" is an onion whose bulb is small, and 

 stem thick, an individual that reverts to the early 

 wild type. Nobody wants it, if he can get a fat 

 onion with a slim neck. 



The biggest onions, often a pound in weight 

 or more, grown in Mediterranean countries, are 

 the mild, white Spanish variety. The Island of 

 Bermuda grows the mild Bermuda varieties, 

 almost the equal of the Spanish in delicacy and 



