CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
381 
adaptation to different soils and climatic conditions and 
its general use the year round for culinary purposes 
properly give it a place among our most useful vege- 
tables. It is universally planted in the home garden and 
the commercial areas occupy thousands of acres. The 
crop offers special inducements for the employment of 
intensive methods, as the possibilities of profit are 
greater than for most classes of vegetables. 
529. Varieties. — In the selection of varieties the fol- 
lowing factors should be considered: (1) Time of matu- 
rity. Earliness is often an important matter. (2) The 
size of the bulb. (3) Color of the bulb. The eastern 
markets prefer yellow and white onions, although a con- 
siderable quantity of red onions is grown and sold in the 
East. Red onions sell best in the Middle West. (4) The 
shape of the bulb. Globular-shaped onions are pre- 
ferred on all markets. (5) The quality of the bulbs. The 
foreign types are known to be milder and more tender 
than the domestic sorts. (6) Keeping qualities. Amer- 
ican onions keep much better than the foreign types. 
(7) Soil adaptation. (U. S. D. A. Farmers’ Bulletin 
354, p. 29.) Yellow and red onions are especially well 
adapted to muck soils. Red and brown varieties thrive 
on prairie soils, and all classes do well on sandy loams 
and light soils. Bermuda, Spanish, and Egyptian types 
flourish on the deep, rich alluvial soils. (8) The yield- 
ing power. Some varieties produce many more bushels 
an acre than others. (9) Climatic adaptation. (10) 
Shipping qualities, or the degree of injury or damage 
sustained from bruises. (11) Purpose for which the 
onions are grown, whether for large bulbs, pickling or 
bunching. 
AMERICAN VARIETIES 
Danvers (Danvers Yellow, Round Yellow Danvers, 
Yellow Globe Danvers) is the most largely grown of the 
