LEEK AND GARLIC 227 



White Bermuda : yellowish white, flat, very early, chiefly grown in south- 

 ern California for early shipment. 



Red Bermuda: resembles White Bermuda, except in color. 



Yellow Flat Danvers: most popular flat yellow variety, very hardy and 

 trustworthy cropper, leads in San Francisco where it is apt to be called 

 "silver-skin." 



Yellow Globe Danvers: large, round, yields well and keeps well; solid 

 and good flavor. One of the main varieties in all parts of California. 



Red Wethersfield: large, round, slightly flattened, deep red with white 

 flesh, strongly flavored, well adapted for low, moist soils, hardy. This and 

 Danvers Globe constitute a main part of the California product. 



Crystal Wax : medium size, waxy white, flat, good for winter crop from 

 fall seeding in interior valleys. 



White Queen: very early, good garden variety but not large nor good 

 keeper. 



Mammoth Silver King: large, flat, white, mild flavor, garden variety. 



Ailsa Craig: said to be largest onion grown; early, good flavor and fine 

 grained. 



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, 

 although it is gaining in popularity. The edible part is the blanched 

 lower leaves of the plant. The culture 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 to- 

 gether 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 particu- 

 larly cared for, the plants may be grown at the surface just as 

 onions are, except for the greater distance the plant requires to de- 

 velop. The leeks chiefly grown in California are the Large Amer- 

 ican Flag, of good, uniform size, and strong growth, and London 

 Flag, a large, strong grower also. 



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 



