THE ONION. 



213 



are found in Cranston's Excelsior, DeveriU's Cocoanut,the Sutton 

 Globe, and the Southport Yellow, and the largest of the section 

 is the huge, but not always handsome, Ailsa Craig. There is 

 also the red- skinned section, not a large one happily, including 

 bulbs that are both flattish and round, the former being repre- 

 sented by the old Blood-red, never a large bulb, deep in colour, 

 and very firm ; and the latter by the Southport Red Globe, or 

 Crimson Globe, bearing bulbs double the size, very handsome, and 

 a capital keeper. It would be extremely interesting did any 

 vegetable physiologist seek to explain the reasons why white or 

 silver- skinned Onions should be the earliest to decay, and the red 

 onions the longest to endure. In the case of the yellow or brown- 

 skin section, the browner the skins usually the better the keepers. 

 But of this very large and widely cultivated section there is one 

 fact in relation to keeping qualities that admits of no disputation. 

 It is that the globular or deeply spherical bulbs always prove 

 to be the best keepers. So well known is this fact that such varie- 

 ties as James's Keeping, Brown Globe, and Bedfordshire Cham- 

 pion have for ages almost had the best keeping reputations, and 

 these seem to be maintained by the finer spherical or globular varie- 

 ties that are in gardens largely superseding them. Here we have 

 again an interesting problem presented, which we would like to 

 have solved — why it is that the conical or globular form of bulb 

 should thus prove so enduring, whilst the flatter the bulb the 

 sooner does it decay. Of course it is well understood that endu- 

 rance or keeping properties are intimately associated with proper 

 ripening or maturing of the bulbs ; but when flat and globular 

 forms are grown side by side, and under the same treatment, it 

 becomes obvious that other causes must enter into the solution 

 of the problem, and it may be found in the harder, firmer flesh of 

 the globular Onion, which would thus relatively contain less 

 of water than do the flat, broad, thinner Onions. Many years ago 

 so much of stress did gardeners lay upon the securing of keep- 

 ing bulbs that such a variety as James's Keeping was universally 

 grown. Still further, light soils were held to be so conducive to 

 the production of thin cellular tissue, and also a greater propor- 

 tion of water in the bulbs, that ground, after being prepared by 

 digging and manuring, was rolled, trodden, and relevelled ; then 

 drills were literally beaten out with the aid of stout half-bent 

 stakes, in order to render the soil exceptionaUy firm. Such a 



