COMMON GARLIC 



a very strong and well-known burning taste. The bulbs or heads 

 are composed of about ten cloves, enveloped by a very thin white 

 or rose-coloured membranous skin. The plant hardly ever flowers 

 in the climate of Paris at 

 least, and is propagated 

 exclusively by means of 

 the cloves, for which pur- 

 pose those on the outside 

 of the head should be 

 selected, in preference to 

 the inner ones, which are 

 not so well developed. 



CULTURE. At Paris 

 the cloves are usually 

 planted as soon as winter 

 is over. Sometimes, 

 especially in the south of 

 France, they are planted 

 in October for an early summer crop. The plant likes rich, 

 deep, well-drained soil. In damp soils, or when watered too 

 much, it often rots. When the stem is fully grown, gardeners 

 are in the habit of twisting it into a knot, in order to increase 

 the size of the bulbs. After the stems have withered, the bulbs 

 are taken up, and will keep well from one year to another. 

 The Common Garlic is the most grown. The membranous skin 

 or covering of the bulbs is of a silvery white colour. 



Common Garlic (^ natural size). 



Plant the cloves (i.e. the separated 

 portions of the bulbs) in shallow 

 drills about i ft. asunder, and 6 in. 

 apart in the row, covering them 

 with soil to the depth of i or 2 in. ; 

 or plant whole bulbs i ft. apart eacn 

 way, and never deep, as wet is apt 

 to get down among the cloves, 

 causing canker and mildew. Merely 

 stretch a line or measure , take the 

 bulbs by the neck and press them 

 half or, say, two-thirds into the soil ; 

 then drop a pinch of fine sifted 

 cinder-ashes over them, to prevent 



worms from drawing them out of 

 the ground. February is about the 

 best season to plant them. A small 

 quantity may be planted in autumn, 

 if it be desired to have a stock early 

 the following season. From this 

 autumnal or, to speak more pre- 

 cisely, October planting, bulbs may 

 be taken up for use early in the 

 succeeding summer. Any time after 

 the leaves turn yellow the crop may 

 be taken up and dried, hanging it 

 up in bunches by the stalks in any 

 airy room. 



USES. In southern countries Garlic is very much used in 

 cookery, but it is not so highly esteemed in the countries of the 

 north. It is only just to say, however, that, when grown in cold 

 climates, it has a stronger and more biting or burning flavour than 

 it has in warm countries. 



