90 



IRISH GARDENING 



The Cultivation of the Leek< 



Whex Onions arc realising; such hit^li jn-iccs as at 

 present one is naturally led to consider whether 

 any other member of the AUiuni family, having 

 similar qualities, w ould make a fair substitute 

 and impart a like flavour. The On.ion is used 

 widely in the preparation of soup ; and in spring 

 or winter the Leek makes a splendid substitute 

 for this purpose, ahnost unequalled when skilfidly 

 used. 



In the south of England the Leek is not so much 

 appreciated as it is in Scotland, in Wales and in 

 France. It is a tine vegetable where it i,-, 

 thoroughly understood, and when well treated 

 there is nothing of its class that can surpass it 

 in flavotu" and wholesomeness. The Leek is very 

 hardy, and this is probably one i-eason for its popu- 

 larity in cliniates which are 

 liable to severely cold weather. 

 It seen^s to have been the 

 only i^lant of the AUhon tribe 

 known in England in pre- 

 Saxon times, and it is probably 

 from the fondness of the Celtic 

 tribes for this esculert that 

 their descendants, the Welsh, 

 still retain it as an emblem of 

 their nationality. The leac, or 

 leak, was also an important 

 table vegetable amongst the 

 Anglo-Saxons, for they called 

 their gardens " leek gardens " 

 (leac-tun) and the gai'dener was 

 a " leekwai'd " (leac-weard). As 

 other species of the same tribe 

 were introduced they wei*e 

 also called Leeks, with a prefix 

 denoting some peculiarity. 

 Garlic was anciently gar-lpac. 

 the Leek with spear ((/<//•) from 

 the spear-like stem and head of 

 the seed vessel ; and an Onion 

 was enne-le'ic. or one-leek, from 

 its not throwing off side bidbs. 

 Thus it appears that leac or 

 leak was a general name for a 

 certain kind of herb. 



Large breadths of Leeks are grown in France, 

 in the neighbourhood of towns, and on the borders 

 of the river Seine, as they are much valued by the 

 French, who study cookery more than most 

 nations. The writer saw a large plot from the 

 top of the Chateau at Boulogne, and, asking what 

 it was in the distance, was told " pour la soupe," 

 the guide considering the reply readily irnder- 

 stood, so much are Leeks used in France to 

 make soup. 



There are many varieties of Leeks, with 

 varying reputations, and among them may be 

 mentioned the following — viz., the London 

 Flag, Musselburgh, Carentan, Eouen, Emperor, 

 Lyon, Eenton's Monarch, Svitton's Favourite, 

 Dobbie's Prize, &:c. The Musselburgh and Lyon 

 are those mostly grown in Great Britain. The 

 characteristic of hai'diness is most important, as 

 the Leek that stands a severe winter is the most 

 reliable. Eouen, Musselburgh and Carentan are 

 worthy of notice as especially excelling in this 

 respect. 



Mr. Stephen Eose. 

 Phof'n ])]i Krocjh Bros. 



to 



A moist, rich soil suits Leek cidtivation, and 

 it nourishes in the valley of the Thames or on 

 low-lying ground of marshy character. In 

 market-garden cidture it is well to sow a large 

 seed-bed in .Marcli and a successional one in April. 

 About loth, of seed would suffice to sow an acre 

 of ground. The price of seed is about 8s. to 10s. 

 per lb. The seed may be sown broadcast, or may 

 be drilled : in the latter case the rows should be 

 12 inches apart. As land is cleared of early 

 summer ci'ops, the surplus plants may be trans- 

 planted to the vacant ground, leaving in the seed- 

 bed a fair ci'op about (5 to 8 inches apart from 

 plant to plant. In the Musselburgh district in 

 the Lothians the Leeks are never drilled, but are 

 transplanted, or lined, to ixse the local term, from 

 seed-beds on to ground from which spring 

 Cabbages or early Potatoes have been cleared. 

 Plants remaining in the seed-bed will be ready 

 for niarket before the trans- 

 planted ones, and if 

 they are well cared for by 

 dressing them with sixty 

 bushels of soot or 2 cwt. of 

 nitrate of soda, followed by 

 thorough hoeing, they will 

 make a fair sample. A great 

 quantity may often be 

 bunched off a seed-bed, as the 

 plants stand thickly on the 

 ground, and more Leeks may 

 be lifted froni a rod of seed- 

 bed than from a transplanted 

 plot of the same area, since 

 in the latter case the Leeks 

 are set out at regular dis 

 tances. 



A bunch may contain .5, 7 or 

 9 Leeks, according to size, 

 and the bunches are made 

 flat. 



Before planting out it is 

 usual to lay the plants evenly 

 together, then with a jipade 

 strike off some of the long 

 foliage, as it would never lift 

 up again, and would only be 

 a drag on the plant. 



Formerly it was custonaary 

 stir the soil among the transplanted crop 



with a long-handled hoe with an 8-inch 

 blade, but better work is done with a short- 

 handled hoe having a .5-inch blade, as the 

 workman can move the ground closer to the 

 plant, and thus give it more air and allow the 

 rain to circidate where it is really needed. 

 Naturally, the latter plan costs rather more, but 

 the work is more efficiently executed, as the opera- 

 tor is nearer his task and moves the soil round the 

 stem of the plant without fear of cutting it off. 



Leeks are generally washed before they are 

 marketed, as then the bleached portion shows up 

 more effectively. For exhibition purposes. Leeks 

 are frequently placed in a small trench, and the 

 rows ijlaced wider apart ; the soil is then drawn 

 to them, so that a larger part is blanched, and 

 the bimched plants look very attractive. In 

 growing Leeks for profit, however, the usual 

 method is to plant on the level, as a larger 

 amount of produce is thus obtained, — Journal of 

 the Board of Agriculture, 



