Occupations > Abercrombie's improved practical gardener; with a monthly calendar for the flower garden

SHALLOT.
those of garlic, and much milder in flavour than
any other of the aliacious tribe.
The cloves are used in the manner of garlic and
onions. In a raw state they are sometimes cut
small and used as a sauce to steaks and chops,
and sometimes a clove or two is put into winter
salads.
The shallot is propagated by parting the roots
into off-sets. These should be planted in Octo¬
ber, in rows nine inches apart, and six inches in
the row, placing the bulbs on the surface of the
ground, instead of inserting them two or three
inches deep, as is the usual way. They must
then be covered with a compost of light soil,
coal-ashes, or tanner’s bark, in equal quantities,
laying it in small ridges lengthwise the beds, and
so as to cover the bulb about an inch deep, just
to exclude them from the air. The most intense
frost will not hurt them, but too much wet will.
When the roots begin to grow, and have got hold
of the ground below the soil, the covering then
must be removed from off them, leaving the
bulbs wholly exposed; by this means of culture
the form of the bulbs will much resemble the
onion, being much more round and short than
usual, and the crop much superior both in quality
and quantity.
When the bulbs begin to decay, they must be
taken up, dried, and stored for use. Any of the
roots may be taken up in June and July, for
immediate use, but not until August for storing.