40 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



same manner, only a heated iron is ap- 

 plied to the base of the bulb where the 

 fragments of the roots still exist ; burn- 

 ing them off, and very slightly searing 

 the base, tends to destroy vegetable 

 life, and hence prevents the bulbs from 

 sprouting during winter. And as we 

 take some delight in showing that all 

 things are not new under the sun, we may 

 here just by the way mention that Pliny, 

 to secure a similar end, adopted a some- 

 what similar means, as he recommends 

 those who wish to keep their onions from 

 sprouting to dip their heads in warm salt 

 water. 



Approved sorts, and their qualities. — The va- 

 rieties of cultivated onions have long been, and 

 still are numerous. Of those that are annually 

 produced from seed, the following may be con- 

 sidered the best : — 



1. Broivn globe. — Large, globular, palish brown, 

 slightly tinged with red; a very useful and hardy 

 kind, of mild flavour, and keeps well. 



2. New white globe. — Kather flatter in form 

 than the last; of mild flavour; altogether a very 

 handsome bulb ; comparatively a new variety. 



3. Blood red. — Known also as the Dutch and 

 St Thomas's onion, of which there are also two 

 sub-varieties, — viz., pale and very deep blood : a 

 very old variety, esteemed by some for its extreme 

 pungency, and also for its diuretic quality. Of 

 middle size, flattish, and very hardy ; deep red, 

 or blood-coloured, keeps remarkably well ; much 

 grown amongst the Scottish and Welsh pea- 

 santry. Not greatly appreciated in genteel 

 families. Perhaps one of the oldest cultivated 

 sorts, as we find them noticed for their strong 

 flavour so early as the days of Pliny. 



4. Reading. — Supposed to be synonymous with 

 (or so closely allied as to be scarce worth grow- 

 ing as distinct varieties) the Cambridge, white 

 Spanish, Eversham, and white Portugal. It is 

 much cultivated about Eversham, and also about 

 Beading, and hence the origin of two of the 

 names. An excellent sort for a general crop, 

 but does not keep well ; mild, large, flat, of a 

 whitish colour tinged with green. 



Strasbu7'g. — Known also as the Dutch, Essex, 

 Deptford, and Flanders onion. This is the 

 most generally cultivated variety in Britain. A 

 large oval bulb, reddish, tinged with green ; ex- 

 tremely hardy, and hence generally sown for 

 autumnal crops, and should be preferred in all 

 cold and elevated localities : flavour rather pun- 

 gent, no disqualification to palates vulgar, and 

 has also the merit of keeping well. 



6. Tripoli. — In seed-lists we find a round and 

 a flat variety, both of which may be picked out of 

 the same seed-bed ; reddish, tinged with green 

 and brown, soft and mild, does not keep well, 

 but an excellent autumn sort. The largest onion 

 grown. 



7. Silver-skinned. — Of which there are the fol- 

 lowing sub-varieties, scarcely distinguishable ex- 

 cept in name — viz., early silver-shinned, small 



silver-skinned, Nocera; flat, middle-sized, and 

 shining when grown in rich ground. It is chiefly 

 cultivated for pickling and dressed dishes, for 

 which purposes it should not much exceed in 

 size a large hazel-nut. It is usually sown in 

 poor soil to prevent it becoming large. 



8. Madeira large. — Known also as new giant: 

 a new variety, the seed of which is annually 

 imported from Madeira ; a bulb of extraordinary 

 size, but does not keep well. 



9. True Portugal. — Large, flattish, globe- 

 shaped, exceedingly mild in flavour, but does 

 not keep well, particularly if grown in Britain, 

 as we have not climate to ripen it thoroughly. 

 Genuine seed should be imported from Portu- 

 gal. We have some doubts, however, as to this 

 being different from the brown Portugal of the 

 seed-shops. 



10. James's keeping. — Evidently an English 

 hybrid, and said to have originated with a Mr 

 James, a commercial grower of Lambeth Marsh : 

 of large pyramidal shape, brownish coloured, 

 strong in flavour, and one of our best keepers, 

 probably on account of its English origin, and 

 consequent increased hardiness. 



11. Lisbon, known also as Lisbon white. — 

 Genuine seed of this excellent variety is in 

 general imported from the south of France. It 

 is by no means hardy with us, and is slow in 

 ripening; not to be recommended for a cold 

 climate ; of large size and globular form, skin 

 whitish and very thin. Opinions differ as to the 

 hardiness of this variety; it is described as 

 hardy, and adapted for autumnal sowing by 

 several good authorities : we have found it one 

 of the tenderest. 



12. Two-bladed, known also as the Welsh onion, 

 from being much grown in that part of the 

 kingdom. — This has a small, flat, brownish-green 

 bulb, which ripens early, and keeps well. It is 

 grown chiefly for its leaves, which are used in 

 salads, and its small bulbs for pickling. The 

 two-bladed early of some seed-catalogues is the 

 same as this, which, by the way, ranks as a dis- 

 tinct species {Allium fistulosum, L.), and is a 

 native of Siberia. Introduced in 1629. Some 

 nursery catalogues enumerate a greater number 

 of names, but their difference consists in the 

 name only. 



13. Tree, or bulb-producing onion. — This is a 

 viviparous variety of the common onion; a 

 native of Canada, the climate of which being too 

 cold to enable the plant to produce seeds, nature 

 employs one of those beautiful provisions she 

 has in store for the fulfilment of the sacred 

 command, " multiply and replenish," by the 

 production of viviparous bulbs at the top of the 

 stalk, which otherwise would have been graced 

 with its head of flowers and umbel of seeds : 

 they are sometimes produced on the sides of 

 the flower-stem also. This occurrence is not 

 uncommon in sub-alpine situations, where the 

 temperature is too low for the ripening of seeds, 

 and is well illustrated in many of the pasture- 

 grasses ; the Festuca vivipara offering one ex- 

 ample, and one of the sub-varieties of the com- 

 mon rye-grass (Lolium perenne, var. vivipara) 

 another. Why botanists have elevated the for- 

 mer into a species, and the latter not, appears 



