ftriking Frefn root into the ground ; which they will 
fuddenly do, efpecially in moift weather. 
In about a fortnight’s time your Onions will be dry 
enough to houfe, which muft be performed in per- 
£e6t dry weather *, in doing of this, you muft care- 
fully rub off all the earth from the roots, and be fure 
to mix no faulty ones amongft them, which will in 
a ftiort time decay, and fpoil all thofe that lie near 
them-, nor fhould you lay them too thick in the 
houfe, which would occafion their fweating, and - 
thereby rot them nor fhould they be put in a lower 
room, or ground floor, but in a loft or garret ; and 
the clofer they are kept from the air, the better they 
will keep. You fhould, at leaft, once a month, look 
over them to fee if any of them are decayed •, which 
if you find, muft be immediately taken away, other- 
wife they will infedt ' all that lie near them. 
But notwithftanding all the care you can poftibly take 
in the drying and houfing of your Onions, many of 
them will grow in the loft, efpecially in mild winters, 
which are generally moift ; therefore thofe who would 
preferve them late in the feafon, fhould feledt a parcel 
of the firmeft and moft likely to keep from the 
others, and with a hot iron {lightly finge their beards, 
or roots, which will effectually prevent their fprouting; 
but in doing of this there muft be great caution ufed 
not to fcorch the pulp of the Onions, for that will 
caufe them to perifh foon after. 
The belt Onions for keeping are the Strafburgh kind, 
which is an oval-fhaped bulb ; but this feldom grows 
fo large as the Spanifn, which is flatter-, the white 
fort is efteemed the fweeteft ; but thefe varieties are 
not lafting -, for if you fave feeds of white Onions 
only, you will have a mixture of the red ones amongft 
them ; nor will the Strafburgh Onion keep long to its 
kind, but will by degrees grow flatter, as do the 
large Portugal Onions, when planted in our climate, 
which in a year or two will be fo far degenerated, 
as not to be known they were from that race. 
But in order to fave feeds, you muft in the fpring 
make choice of fome of the firmed:, largeft, and 
beft fhaped Onions (in quantity proportionable to the 
feed you intend to fave -,) and having prepared a 
piece of good ground (which fhould be well dug, and 
laid outin beds about three feet wide,) in the beginning 
or middle of March you muft plant your Onions in 
the following manner. Having ftrained a line about 
four inches within the fide of the bed, you muft, 
with a fpade, throw out an opening about fix inches 
deep, the length of the bed, into which you fhould 
place the Onions, with their roots downward, at 
about nine inches diftance from each other; then 
with a rake draw the earth into the opening again 
to cover the bulbs ; then proceed to remove the line 
again about a foot farther back, where you muft 
make an opening as before, and fo again till the whole 
is finifhed *, fo that you will have four rows in each 
bed, between , which you muft allow a fpace of two 
feet for an alley to go among them to clear them from 
weeds, &c. In a month’s time their leaves will ap- 
pear above ground,, and many of the roots will pro- 
duce three or four ftalks each •, you muft therefore 
keep them diligently cleared from weeds, and about 
, the beginning of June, when the heads of the flowers 
begin to appear upon the tops of the ftalks, you 
muft provide a parcel of flakes about four feet long, 
which fhould be driven i-nto the ground, in the rows 
of Onions, at about fix or eight feet apart-, to which 
you fhould fallen fome packthread, rope yarn, or 
fmall cord, which fhould be run on each fide the 
Items of the Onions, a little below their heads, to 
fupport them from breaking down with the wind and 
rain ; for when the feeds are formed, the heads will 
be heavy, and fo are very often broken down by 
their own weight, where they are not well fecured ; 
and if the ftalks are broken before the feeds have 
arrived to maturity, they will not be near fo good, 
nor keep fo long as thofe which are perfedlly ripened. 
About the end of Auguft the Onion feed will be 
ripe, which may be known by its . changing, brown. 
and the cells in which the feeds are contained-hpeninff 
fo that if it be not cut in a ftiort time, the feeds will 
fall , to the ground : when you cut off the 'heads, they 
fhould be fpread abroad upon coarfe cloths in the 
fun, obferving to keep it under flicker in the niHit, 
as alio in wet weather -, and when the heads are quite 
dry, you muft beat out the feeds, which are very 
eaiily difcharged from their cells ; then having cleared 
it from all the hufk, &c. after having expofed it one 
day to the fun to dry, you muft put it up in bao-s 
to preferve it for ufe. 
The directions here given is for the general crop of 
winter Onions ; but there are two other crops of this 
common fort of Onion, cultivated in the gardens 
about London to fupply the market, one of which is 
commonly called Michaelmas Onions. Thefe are 
fown in beds pretty clofe, the middle of Auguft, 
and muft be well weeded when they come up. In 
the fpring of the year, after the winter Onions are 
over, they are tied up in bunches to fupply the 
markets ; but from the thinning of thefe they carry 
to market young green Onions in March, for fal- 
lads, &c. 
And in the fpring they fow more beds in the fame 
manner, to draw up young for fallads, after the Mi- 
chaelmas Onions are grown too large for that purpofe; 
and where a fupply of thefe are required, there may 
be three different fowings, at about three weeks 
diftance from each other, which will be fufficient for 
the feafon. 
There are alfo the following forts of Onions cultivated 
in the kitchen-gardens. 
The Shallot, or Efchalottes, which is the Cepa Aft 
calonica. Matth. 556. 
The Ciboule, or Cepa fiflilis. Matth. Lugd. 1539. 
The Gives, or Cepa fedilis juncifolia perennis. Mor. 
Hift. 2. 383. 
The Welch Onion I fuppofe to be the fame with the 
Ciboule, although they pafs under different appella- 
tions ; for I have feveral times received the Ciboule 
from abroad, which, when planted, prove to be what 
is generally known here by the title of Welch Onions. 
There is alfo a great affinity between the Efchalottes 
and thefe, fo that they are not well diftinguifhed yet ; 
for although they are generally cultivated in the gar- 
dens, yet they are not well known to the botamfls, 
fome of whom have fuppofed a greater variety than 
is in nature-, while others have joined them together, 
making but two lpecies. 
The Scallion, or Efcallion, is a fort of Onion which 
never forms any bulbs at the roots, and is chiefly ufed 
in the fpring for green Onions, before the other forts, 
fown in July, are big enough; but this fort of 
Onion, how much foever in ufe formerly, is now fo 
fcarce as to be known to few people, and is rarely 
to be met with, except in curious botanic gardens': 
the gardeners near London fubflitute another fort for 
this, which are thofe Onions which decay and fprout 
in the houfe : thefe they plant in a bed early in the 
fpring, which in a Abort time will grow large enough 
for ufe ; when they draw them up, and after pulling 
off all the outer coat of the root, they tie them up 
in bunches, and fell them in the market for Scal- 
lions. 
The true Scallion is eafily propagated by parting the 
roots, ejther in fpring or autumn ; but the latter feafon 
is preferable, becaufe of their being rendered more 
fit for ufe in the fpring : thefe roots fhould be planted 
three or four in a hole, at about fix inches diftance 
every way, in beds or borders three feet wide, which 
in a fhort time will multiply exceedingly, and will 
grow upon almoft any foil and in any fituation ; and 
their being fo hardy as to refill the fevereft of our 
winters, and being green, and fit for ufe fo early in 
the fpring, renders them worthy of a place in all 
good kitchen-gardens. 
The Cives are a very fmall fort of Onion, which 
never produce any bulbs, and feldom grow above fix 
inches high in the blade, which is alfo very fmall and 
(lender, and are in round bunches like the former ; 
this 
