D. M. FERRY & CO’S DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 
——_ 
sort. Color variable from white to light red; flesh white, 
rather coarse grained, but of very mild fiavor. Resemblesa 
mammoth White Portugal. 
FOREIGN ONIONS. 
The following varieties have been tested in this country, 
and have given perfect satisfaction. The flavor of the Italian 
varieties is mild, and they are every way well adapted to 
culinary purposes. 
Iretian TRIPOLI. 
Giant Wuirte 
GIANT WHITE ITALIAN TRIPOLI.—A large. beau- 
tiful, pure white, flat onion of mild and excellent flavor, and 
will produce a somewhat larger onion from seed than our 
White Portugal; but to attain their full size the plants should 
be started very early in a hot-bed and set out in rich soil. 
QUEEN.—A silver skinned variety, of quick growth and 
remarkable keeping qualities. If sown in early spring it 
will produce onions one to two inches in diameter early in 
summer, and if sown in July, will, with favorable weather, 
be ready to pull late in autumn, and be sound and fit for use 
until the following summer. Particularly valuable for 
pickles, as, if sown thickly, they will mature perfect, hard 
onions from one half to three quarters of an inch in diameter. 
33 
EARLY NEAPOLITAN MARZAJOLA.—A beautiful, 
flat, white skiuned variety, one of the earliest of all, anda 
good keeper. It can be sown in February or March, and will 
mature a crop very early in the season; or if sown in July, 
the crop will be matured in the same season. In the South 
the seed can be sown in the autumn, and large onions pro- 
duced in March. Known also as Early May. 
MAMMOTH SILVER KING.—An enormously large, 
flat onion, resembling the White Italian Tripoli, but is larger. 
slightly later and a better keeper, making it better suited for 
fall and early winter market. “Skin silvery white, flesh pure 
white, very tender and mild fiavored. 
GIANT ROCCA.— dn immense onion. Globular in form: 
skin light brown; flesh mild and tender. It will producea 
large onion from seed the first season, but to attain the larg 
est growth, very small bulbs or sets should be put out the 
second spring, when they will continue increasing in size. 
instead of producing seed, as is the case with American 
onions. 
BULBS. 
TOP SETS, OR BUTTONS.—These produce on the top 
of the stalk instead of seed, a number of small bulbs or oniens, 
about the size of acorns, which, if planted, will produce a 
large onion, maturing earlier than from seed. The large 
onion produces the top onion, and the little top onion pro- 
duces the large onion. 
RED BOTTOM SETS.—Produced by sowing seed very 
thickly in the spring and not thinning out. They mature 
under this method when about half an inch in diameter; and 
are used precisely as top onions are, setting them out in the 
spring, instead of sowing seed. 
YELLOW BOTTOM SETS.—Identical with the preced- 
ing, except in color, and used in the same manner. 
WHITE BOTTOM SETS.—The seed of the White Silver- 
skin or White Portugal varieties is used to produce the white 
set. They do not keep as well as the red or yellow, but pro- 
duce beautiful white onions early in the season. 
Any of the preceding four varieties can be recommended as 
a small early crop for family use and early home market. 
but ot as a main crop, the increase of marketable onions 
over the seed being too small. Of all the various modes of 
propagation, sowing the seed for a main crop deserves the 
first rank. Its cheapness compared with other modes, the 
facility with which seed is sown, and the superior bulbs 
which it produces, recommend it to general use. 
MicnHican Yettow Grose. 
