A popular and excellent method of wintering onions in cold climates is to spread straw to the depth of 18 inches on a dry floor or scaffold, and put on a layer of onions from 6 inches to a foot deep, and cover with 2 feet of straw. This will not always prevent freezing, but it checks all sudden changes. Onions not fully cured should never be kept in barrels, but spread out so as to be perfectly ventilated. Onion sets shrink greatly in storage; sometimes as much as one-half between fall and spring. =Varieties.=--There are many varieties of onions, some of American and some of foreign origin. The former are better keepers, but the latter are of milder flavor. The American sorts (Danvers, Southport Globe varieties, Wethersfield, Extra Early Red, Silver Skin, Strasburg, etc.) are usually considered to be the most profitable; but the foreign kinds (Prize Taker, Prize Winner, Pearl, Bermuda, Giant Rocca, Victoria, etc.) are profitable in those parts of the country where soil and climate warrant their growth from seed in a single season. The so-called tree onion is a perennial, of American origin, living out over winter. It is sometimes called Egyptian or top onion. It produces bulbs or sets at the top of the seed-stalk. The potato or multiplier onion divides its large bulb into numerous small ones, which in turn produce large onions the next year. ONIONS.--For farm gardeners' purposes, we especially recommend Philadelphia Yellow Globe Danvers, Mammoth Yellow Prizetaker, White Prize Winner. Earliest Onions are--Extra Early Red Globe Danvers, American Extra Early White Pearl, Rhode Island Yellow Cracker. The best for sets--Extra Early Red, Philadelphia Yellow Dutch and White Silver Skin. For descriptions of varieties, see "Johnson & Stokes' Garden and Farm Manual." =Diseases and Enemies.=--To prevent maggot, the use of kainit is recommended; 600 pounds per acre. For onion smut, which may in part be cured by the kainit, the best known remedy is a change of soil. Thrip, which causes the cuticle of the leaves to become covered with whitish or yellowish spots, is best treated by means of kerosene emulsion, used as a spray. The onion fly may, in part, at least, be abated by the use of equal parts of wood ashes and land plaster dusted very thoroughly on the young plants. Stiff-necked onions, often called stags, are the result either of improper growth or poor stock. They are sometimes planted in autumn for use as scallions (scullions) the following spring. =Marketing.=--Onions are sometimes sold in the open field; a good plan when a fair price can be secured. After curing, as already described, they are usually sold by the bushel or barrel. They are always in demand, as the onion is a standard article of human food. In the green state they are sold either by measure, by the bunch, or by the rope. The latter method consists in tying the onions along wisps of straw.