p._

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 space 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 oni