The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 23

Small Summer Brabant.

Leaves long, narrow, dark-green; stem small. On this account, it is not so valuable as many others for a main crop: besides, if sown at the same time, it is liable to run to seed before winter. A small sowing, however, may be made with advantage for early use.

YELLOW POITOU. _Thomp._

Jaune du Poitou. _Vil._

A remarkably large variety; the leaves having sometimes measured five feet in length, and six inches in breadth. They are of a yellowish-green color. The underground or blanched portion of the stem is yellowish-white, and is more tender than that of any other variety. On this account, and also for its large size, it deserves cultivation. The great length of the leaves makes it important that more s.p.a.ce should be allowed between the plants than is usually allotted to other varieties.

THE ONION.

Allium cepa.

The Onion is a half-hardy biennial plant: the roots and leaves, however, are annual; as they usually perish during the first year. The bulbs, for which the plant is generally cultivated, are biennial, and differ to a considerable extent in their size, form, and color. The flower-stalk, which is developed the second year, is from three to four feet in height, leafless, hollow, swollen just below the middle, and tapers to the top. The flowers are either white or rose-colored, and are produced at the extremity of the stalk in a regular, globular group, or umbel.

The seeds ripen in August. They are deep blue-black, somewhat triangular, and similar in size and form in all the varieties. An ounce contains about seventy-five hundred seeds, which retain their vitality two years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--The Onion requires a light, loamy, mellow soil; and, unlike most kinds of garden or field vegetables, succeeds well when cultivated on the same land for successive years. With the exception of the Top and the Potato Onion, all the varieties are raised from seed.

Previous to sowing, the ground should be thoroughly spaded over or deeply ploughed, and the surface made smooth and even. The seed should be sown as early in spring as the soil may be in good working condition.

Sow in drills fourteen inches apart, and half an inch in depth. When the plants are three or four inches high, thin them to two inches asunder; and, in the process of culture, be careful not to stir the soil too deeply, or to collect it about the growing bulbs. The onions will ripen in August, or early in September; and their full maturity will be indicated by the perfect decay of the leaves, or tops. The bulbs may be drawn from the drills by the hand, or by the use of a common garden-rake. After being exposed for a few days to the sun for drying, they will be ready for storing or the market.

_Preservation._--The essentials for the preservation of the bulbs are a low temperature, freedom from frost, dryness, and thorough ventilation.

_Seed._--For the production of seed, select the ripest, firmest, and best-formed bulbs; and, in April, transplant them to lines two feet and a half or three feet distant, and from nine to twelve inches apart in the lines, sinking the crowns just below the surface of the ground. As the plants advance in height, tie them to stakes for support. The seeds ripen in August: and the heads, or umbels, should be cut off when they a.s.sume a brown color; for then the capsules begin to open, and shed their seeds. After being threshed out, the seed should be exposed to the action of the sun until it is thoroughly dried; for, when stored in a damp state, it is extremely liable to generate heat, and consequently to lose its vitality.

_Varieties._--Few of the numerous varieties are cultivated to any extent in this country. Many of the kinds succeed only in warm lat.i.tudes, and others are comparatively unimportant. The Danvers, Large Red, Silver-skin, and the Yellow seem peculiarly adapted to our soil and climate. The annual product of these varieties greatly exceeds that of all the other sorts combined.

BLOOD-RED. _Thomp._

French Blood-red. Dutch Blood-red. St. Thomas.

Bulb middle-sized, or rather large, flattened; skin dull red,--the coating next within glossy, and very dark red. The internal layers are palest at the base; and, except at the top, are only colored on their outsides. Each layer is paler than the one which surrounds it; till the centre is reached, which is white.

It is a good keeper, but one of the strongest flavored of all varieties.

It imparts to soups, or other dishes of which it may be an ingredient, a brownish or blackish color.

BROWN PORTUGAL. _Thomp._

Brown Spanish. Cambrai. Oporto.

A medium-sized, roundish, or flattened onion; neck small; skin yellowish-brown,--next interior layer not tinged with red. It is a popular variety in some parts of France; and is remarkable for its productiveness, excellent quality, and keeping properties.

DANVERS.

Danvers Yellow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Danvers Onion.]

This comparatively recent variety was obtained by selection from the Common Yellow. It is somewhat above medium size, and inclined to globular in its form. Average bulbs measure three inches in diameter, and two inches and three-fourths in depth. The skin is yellowish-brown, but becomes darker by age, and greenish-brown if long exposed to the sun; the flesh is similar to that of the Yellow,--white, sugary, comparatively mild, and well flavored.

The superiority of the Danvers Onion over the last named consists princ.i.p.ally, if not solely, in its greater productiveness. When grown under like conditions, it yields, on the average, nearly one-fourth more; and, on this account, the variety is generally employed for field culture. It is, however, not so good a keeper; and, for s.h.i.+pping purposes, is decidedly inferior to the Yellow,--its globular form rendering it more liable to decay, from the heat and dampness incident to sea voyages.

When cultivated for the market, the land is thoroughly ploughed, and well enriched with fine decomposed manure. The surface is then harrowed, and next raked free of stones, and lumps of earth. The seed is sown in April, usually by machines, in rows fourteen inches apart, and three-fourths of an inch in depth; three pounds of seed being allowed to an acre. The crop is treated in the usual form during the summer; and ripens the last of August, or early in September. When the tops have entirely withered, the bulbs are raked from the drills, and spread a few days in the sun for drying; after which they are sorted, and barrelled for storing or the market. The yield varies from five to eight hundred bushels per acre.

DEPTFORD. _Thomp._

Brown Deptford.

Very similar to, if not identical with, the English Strasburg. "It sometimes exactly agrees with the description of that variety: but it occasionally has a pale-brown skin, without any tinge of red; and, when this is the case, its flavor is milder than that of the last named."

With the exception of its more globular form, the bulb much resembles the Yellow Onion of this country.

EARLY SILVER NOCERA.

Early Small Silver Nocera. White Nocera. _Thomp._ Blanc Hatif de Nocera.

_Vil._

This is a very small variety of the Early Silver-skin, with a small, occasionally roundish, but generally oblate bulb. The skin is white; but the layers beneath are striped with bright-green lines. The leaves are very small. Sometimes the bulb has only a single leaf, frequently but two; and, if there are more than four, the plant has not its true character.

It is an excellent sort for pickling; and is the smallest and earliest variety known,--being fifteen or twenty days earlier than the Early Silver-skin: but it is very liable to increase in size, and to degenerate. Very little known or cultivated in this country.

EARLY RED WETHERSFIELD.

A sub-variety of the Large Red Wethersfield, and the earliest of the red onions. Form and color nearly the same as the Large Red; bulb small, measuring about two inches and a half in diameter, and about an inch and a half in depth. It is close-grained; mild; a good keeper; forms its bulbs, with few exceptions, and ripens, the last of July; being three or four weeks earlier than the Large Red. Cultivated to a limited extent in various places on the coast of New England, for early consumption at home, and for s.h.i.+pment to the South and West.

This variety and the Intermediate are very liable to degenerate: they tend to grow larger and later, approaching the original variety; and can be preserved in a pure state only by a careful selection of the bulbs set for seed.

EARLY SILVER-SKIN.

Blanc Hatif. _Vil._

This is a small early variety of the Silver-skin, measuring two inches and three-fourths in diameter, and an inch and three-fourths in depth.

The neck is small, and the skin silvery-white. It is much esteemed for its earliness and mild flavor, and is one of the best of all varieties for pickling. When cultivated for the latter purpose, it should be sown and treated as directed for the Silver-skin.

FUSIFORM, OR COW-HORN.

Corne de Boeuf. _Vil._