THE LEEK 251 



Tree-onion : a variety which produces top-sets instead of seed at the 

 head of the seed stem. Used in garden culture as already described. It 

 serves a good purpose under certain conditions, but is very little used in 

 this State. 



THE LEEK. 



California produces large quantities of leek seed for distant 

 sale, but the leek itself is but little grown in California, except by 

 market gardeners, and its use is chiefly by citizens of foreign birth. 

 The edible part is the blanched lower leaves of the plant. The cul- 

 ture is at first practically the same as that described for transplanted 

 onions, except that the young leek plant is deeply set in a depression 

 in friable soil, and as it grows the earth is drawn about the leaves, 

 which are tightly sheathed together so as to blanch them into the 

 appearance of a thick white stem. Thus the later cultivation of the 

 plant resembles that of celery. It is handiest in the garden to sow 

 the seed in drills one foot apart, at intervals from fall to spring, so 

 as to have a succession, and plant the seedlings when about the 

 diameter of a goose quill, in the bottom of a drill or furrow several 

 inches deep. The plants need wide spacing, say six to ten inches, 

 for they reach considerable thickness and make a large display of 

 leaves. Cultivation gradually levels the ground. Leeks need ample 

 moisture and good cultivation to attain fine size and tenderness. If 

 the blanching is not particularly cared for, the plants may be grown 

 at the surface just as onions are, except for the gretater distance 

 the plant requires to develop. The leeks chiefly grown in California 

 are the Large American Flag, of good, uniform size, and strong 

 growth ; the Musselburgh, short, thick stem and large, broad leaves ; 

 the Large Rouen, a large, strong variety, and the Monstrous Cara- 

 tan, with dark-colored foliage. 



GARLIC. 



What is said of the restricted local use of the leek applies also 

 to the garlic. It is grown with about the same cultivation as the 

 onion, and the planting season is of the same duration. The method 

 is by planting the bulblets, or "cloves," taken out of the silvery skin 

 which covers the bunch, and planted like onion sets about six inches 

 apart in rows one foot distant from each other. It may also be 

 grown by planting whole cases of sets one foot apart in the rows. 

 The planting should be rather shallow and the soil should be light 

 and well cultivated to allow the free expansion of the bulb. 



