Strasburg, or Yellow Onion. Large oval, inclining to flat; very hardy, keeps well and of strong flavor.
Silver Skinned.—White, flat, medium size. Very generally used for pickling.
Red Dutch.—Dark red, medium size, inclining to flat, keeps well, very hardy, extensively grown in the Eastern states for export, strong flavor.
Portugal, very large, globular, mild flavor; does not keep well.
Potato, or under-ground Onion; produces a quantity of young bulbs on the parent root, which should be planted in rows, in March, three inches deep (below the surface) and six inches from bulb to bulb, eighteen inches being left between the rows. Keep them clear of weeds, and earth them up like potatoes, as they continue to grow. They will be fully grown about the first of August, when they may be treated as other Onions.
Welsh or Tree Onion.—Much grown in cold countries, where the Onion does not seed freely. This variety shoots up a stem on which small bulbs grow in place of seeds. These pea-bulbs are kept till next year, when they are planted and produce very good roots of considerable size, while the stem gives a farther supply for next year’s planting. There are other varieties such as Globe, James’s Keeping, Tripoli, Reading, and Deptford; but none of them, for this climate, surpass or even equal those described.
Culture.—The soil in general cannot be too rich for this esteemed vegetable, and however good it may be, it requires more or less manure for every crop. It is a plant with a number of roots, that ramify to a great extent, absorbing nourishment from every particle of the soil. In regard to rotation of crops, the Onion is an anomalous case: for the same ground has been known to produce yearly, for nearly half a century, heavy crops. I have seen instances of twenty-two successive
