53 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
A Pretty Twiner— the " Star Ipomoea." 
( Quamoclit coccinea.) 
Every one who likes the " Cypress-vine," -will 
be glad to know that it has an own brother 
■which is a more rapid grower, and much hard- 
ier. This is the Quamoclit coccinea, a native of 
Mexico, and which, though naturalized in some 
of the warmer portions of the country, is but 
little known in cultivation. The plant was re- 
cently brought forward by one of our seedsmen 
under the name of Star Ipomoea, which will 
do well enough for a garden name, though it re- 
ally belongs to the genus Quamoclit, and is not 
an Ipomoea at all. It has not the exquisite deli- 
cacy of foliage that characterizes the Cypress- 
vine, but excels it in the number, brilliancy 
and duration of its flowers, which in cool days 
keep open until the following morning. They 
appear in clusters of from 18 to 24, springing 
from the axils of the heart-shaped leaves. 
The engraving represents the flowers and leaves 
of the natural size. It is an annual, and its 
culture is like that of the Morning-glory. 
Twiners and climbers differ in the manner in 
which they attach themselves to trellises or oth- 
er supports. The twiners, like the Morning-glo- 
ry, coil themselves around the stake or string, 
while climbers attach themselves in some other 
way. The sweet Pea climbs by means of ten- 
drils, while the Nasturtium and some others 
coil their leaf-stalks around the support. They 
are very useful in gar- 
dens, either to cover 
unsightly walls and 
fences or to add vari- 
ety when grown by 
themselves on suita- 
ble trellises. One of 
the prettiest supports 
is made of a young 
red cedar, with the 
limbs cut off to with- 
in about a foot of the 
trunk and left rough. 
Fanciful forms may 
be made with poles 
and cords, or wire, 
but to our taste the 
simpler these are 
made the better. It 
is a common mistake 
to make these sup- 
ports too frail,as when 
loaded with vines 
they offer a large sur- 
face to the action of 
the winds, and are 
readily broken. 
Frames intended for 
annuals should be so 
arranged that they 
can be removed and 
housed for the win- 
ter; those for woody 
climbers are generally permanent. The Mau- 
randias, Lophospermum, and Cobasa, are all 
fine for both flowers and foliage, and may be 
raised from seed, if started early in a hot-bed 
or green-house. It is, however, much better 
to get rooted cuttings from the florists. No 
class of twiners are more popular than the 
Morning-glories, and the nearly related Cy- 
press vine, and in no plants have greater 
improvements been made than in the newer 
varieties of these. Both in size of flower 
and beauty of color the Jpomozas, limbata, Jied- 
eracea, Bwrridgii and others are vastly superior 
to the common variety, and grow nearly as 
readily. With these and with the Cypress vine 
a fine show can be made. They are all very 
easily cultivated, asking nothing more than good 
garden mould, and ordinary attention. The 
seeds of the " Star Ipomoea " shown in the en- 
graving, and of the other sorts mentioned will 
doubtless be on sale by most seedsmen this 
season. Our advertising columns will give the 
address of several reliable parties. 
A Talk about Onions. 
In the talks about cabbages in the two pre- 
ceding numbers, it was shown that the eat- 
able portion of the cabbage is merely an 
enormous bud, growing upon the end of the 
stem, the leaves of which it is composed, being 
thickened by an accumulation of nutriment ; 
that in Brussels Sprouts this nutriment is mainly 
stored in smaller buds growing along the stem, 
and that these are accordingly the useful pro- 
duct ; while in the Kohl Rabi, the stem itself is 
made to hold the nutritious deposit and becomes 
the eatable portion. In all these cases we ap- 
propriate as food that which the plant had ac- 
cumulated,' to be used the following j'ear by 
itself in the production of seed. 
In the present article we shall treat of the 
different varieties of onion in a similar manner, 
the object being to induce our readers to look 
into the real nature of the common things about 
them. The majority of persons, if asked, what 
is an onion ? would probably reply that it is a 
root, and would be surprised if told that the 
eatable portion is, as in the ordinary cabbage, a 
large oud. It is a common impression that 
everything which grows underground must be 
a root; but the fact is, that not only stems but 
buds, and in rare cases, even flowers grow be- 
neath the surface. It may seem difficult to see 
Fig. 1 — VERTICAL SECTION. 
at first any possible similarity between a cab- 
bage and an onion, but a little careful observa- 
tion will show that they are alike in nature, 
though so different in character.- 
To examine the structure of an onion, divide 
it by cutting through from top to bottom, and it 
will be found to present an appearance Mice 
fig. 1. The bulk of the onion is made up of 
scales, lying one over another, and these are 
really tlie thickened lower portions of the onion 
leaves. The leaves being hollow cylinders, their 
bases are similarly shaped, and when cut across, 
show a series of concentric rings, as seen in 
fig. 2. The scales are attached to the stem, a, 
Fig. 2 — HORIZONTAL SECTION. 
fig. 1, which is so small that it might be over- 
looked. Though very short, being much broad- 
er than long, this is all the proper stem the onion 
has, and it bears leaves upon the upper surface, 
and roots from the lower one. During the 
first year of the growth of the onion from the 
seed, it is occupied in preparing material which 
is to produce flowers and seed the second year, 
aud this is deposited in the bases of the leaves, 
which thicken up so as to form a more or less 
globe-like body, while their upper portions hav- 
;:A^ ' ■- 
Fig. 3— POTATO ONION. 
ing done their work, wither and decay. It will 
be seen then, that the onion is not a root at all,' 
but a large bud. That its nature is such as we 
have described, may be proved by examining one 
in a growing state, where the green leaves will 
