20 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
3. Give general directions for choosing, cleaning, and cooking dandelion 
ereens. 
4. Give a list of wild plants in your vicinity suitable for this purpose. How 
many have you tried? 
5, Explain the shrinkage common with sueh foods. 
6. Why is fat meat often cooked with plants of this type? 
7. Give general directions for cooking cabbage or cauliflower. 
8. How many asparagus beds in your neighborhood? Can you give method 
of preparing canned asparagus? 
9. What reasons for use of white sauce with cooked cabbage, celery, etc.? 
10. Give directions for making white sauce. 
LESSON IV. BULBS. 
THE ONION TRIBE. 
Next to leaves and stalks, bulbs may be studied; they may be con- 
sidered as a form half way between stems and roots. 
A bulb is a kind of bud, spheroidal in shape, and from the botan- 
ist’s standpoint consists of a cluster of leaves, modified in form and 
tightly folded together, one over the other. Usually they form above 
or just below the top of the ground. In some cases the young bulblets 
appear in the axils of the leaves (tiger lily) or at the blossom, as in 
top onions. Bulbs are characteristic of the lily family, which in- 
cludes some of the most ornamental plants of the flower garden— 
hyacinths, lilies, narcissus, and tulips, for example. The American 
Indians used certain wild bulbs, including wild onions, as food, and 
those of some garden lilies are eaten in Japan and China and are 
also sold in Chinese shops in American cities. From the culinary 
viewpoint, however, the most important of the bulbous plants are 
the onion and some of its relatives. 
The derivation of the word “onion” is significant, indicating the 
oneness of the bulb or the close union of the leaves and stems under- 
ground. The onion appears to have been a native of Asia and to 
have been used by the human race from the most ancient times and 
is mentioned in the Bible and in old Egyptian writings. 
Onions owe their flavor to a volatile, oil-like compound containing 
sulphur, which has been carefully studied by chemists. It is a matter 
of common experience that onions act as a laxative. To this and the 
sulphur-yielding material they contain are no doubt due the medicinal 
properties commonly assigned to them. They are very succulent, but 
nevertheless supply some nutritive material, chiefly carbohydrates 
and sulphur and other mineral n:atter. 
There is a large number of varieties of onions and each is useful 
in its place. Many kinds are grown by American farmers and gar- 
deners, and the native crop supplies the bulk of the onions found in 
the markets. The tiny pearl and button onions are convenient for 
salads or pickles where only a hint of flavor is wanted. From the 
