By Mr. Charles Strachan. 370 



as the crop of young bulbs on the head of the flowering 

 stem. 



The denomination of Scallions is given to the strong green 

 tops of Onions in the spring and summer, and generally all 

 Onions which do not bulb but form lengthened necks, are 

 called Scallions. The plants of any Onions which have been 

 sown in autumn and become strong and large in the spring, 

 are thus called amongst the market gardeners round London, 

 and the shoots of any Onion of the preceding year replanted 

 in the spring are usually named Scallions. If it were neces- 

 sary strictly to point out what was intended by the old gar- 

 deners for the Scallion, I should not have hesitated to apply 

 the term to the Welsh Onion, in its enlarged spring state ; 

 but a difficulty occurs in thus fixing it, because Miller, in 

 his Dictionary, speaks of the Scallion, as distinct from the 

 Welsh Onion, noticing both ; his description of the Scallion 

 is perfectly applicable to, and agrees with the Welsh Onion, 

 but he says that the true Scallion, however much in use for- 

 merly, was in his time nearly lost, and only to be found in 

 curious Botanic Gardens. If it has not entirely disappeared, 

 which is not improbable, and if it be a distinct species of 

 Allium, we have at least lost the knowledge of what plant it 

 is, to which the term should be properly given. 



VOL. III. 



3 D 



