LEI 



347 



LEO 



Scotch or Flag, which is larger and 

 hardier; and the Flanders. 



Time and Mode of Sowing.— It is 

 raised solely from seed, which may be 

 sown at any time during the spring. 



These sowings are performed in ge- 

 neral broadcast and raked in, though 

 some gardeners employ drills, the plants 

 to remain after thinning; the Leek, 

 however, is so much benefitted by , 

 transplanting as obviously to point out , 

 the error of this practice. 



Cultivation.— When the plants are | 

 three or four inches in height, in eight 

 or ten weeks after sowing, they must 

 be weeded, hoed, and thinned, where 

 growing too close, to two or three inch- 

 es apart; water also being given, in 

 dry weather, will, with the above treat- 

 ment, strengthen and forward them for 

 transplanting in another month, or 

 when six or eight inches high. They 

 must be taken away regularly from the 

 seed bed ; the ground being well wa- 

 tered previously, if not soft and easily 

 yielding. VVhe'n thinned out they may 

 be left to remain in the seed bed six 

 inches asunder, as they do not grow so 

 large as the transplanted ones, which 

 must be set by the dibble in rows ten 

 inches apart, and eight in the lines, 

 being inserted nearly down to the 

 leaves, that the neck, by being covered 

 with the earth, may be blanched ; wa- 

 ter in abundance must be given at the 

 time of planting, and the long weak 

 leaves shortened, but the roots left as 

 uninjured as possible. The bed is hoed 

 over occasionally with advantage, as 

 well to kill the weeds as to loosen the 

 soil. By this treatment, and by cutting | 

 oif the tops of the leaves about once a 

 month, as new ones are produced, the , 

 neck swells to a much larger size. The j 

 several sowings above directed will 

 vield a supply from August until the , 

 following ^May, when they advance to j 

 seed. A portion should be always 

 taken up and laid in sand previous to 

 the ground being locked up by contin- ! 

 ued frost, but they will not keep many 

 days in this situation. i 



LEIANTHUS Nigrescens. Green- 

 house biennial. Seed. Light rich loam. 

 LEIMANTHIUM. Three species. 

 Hardy herbaceous. Seed. Wet peat 

 soil. 



LEMA asptragi. The Asparagus 

 Beetle, by some naturalists called Cri- 



oceris aisparagi is thus described by Mr. 

 Curtis : — 



"The larva which abound from June 

 to September, not only eat off all the 

 leaves, bat even gnaw the rind from the 

 stem of the plants. 



" The eggs are oval, and fixed on 

 the plants °by one of their ends, one 

 being sometimes attached to the end 

 of another. The larva; are hatched in 

 a little time; they are short, thick, and 

 fleshy, covered with hairs, wrinkled, 

 ash-coloured, with black head and legs; 

 they move very slowly, and when 

 alarmed emit a blackish fluid from 

 I their mouth. 



I " When full grown, the larvse go in- 

 to the ground, where they contract a 

 thick cocoon, in which they assume the 

 pupa state. In a short time the per- 

 fect insect appears. It is about a quar- 

 ter of an inch long, of a blue black 

 colour, with cream coloured or yellow 

 spots on the wing cases, and a red 

 thorax. To lessen the ravages of the 

 insect, little more can be done than to 

 collect them by hand-picking or by 

 shaking them into a net. As many 

 beetles, however, may be found at the 

 time the Asparagus is cut, we recom- 

 I mend that all these should be destroyed 

 1 before they have an opportunity of de- 

 1 positing their eggs."— Ga?d. Chron. _ 



LEONOTIS. Four species. L. in- 



\termedia is a stove evergreen shrub; 



j and two are stove annuals, requiring 



! the usual treatment of tender annuals. 



Cuttings or seed. Loam and peat. L. 



leonurus is a green-house evergreen 



shrub, requiring the following treat- 



' ment : — 



I " Strike from cuttings in May ; keep 

 in a forty-eight pot during the winter ; 

 1 in the beginning of April put into a pot 

 I thirteen inches in diameter, and place 

 in a forcing frame kept at a tempera- 

 ture varying from 73" to 50°; here re- 

 main for about seven weeks, when 

 remove to the green-house. 



" After the end of June, force as 

 much as possible by keeping the house 

 shut up during the day, so as to con- 

 centrate all the heat which can be 

 obtained from the sun, but no fire light- 

 ed except during cold nights in Sep- 

 tember and October; 120'^ is not too 

 1 groat for it, provided it has plenty of 

 water; never suffer the surface of the 

 I earth to become dry, and generally 

 I keep about an inch of water in the 



