126 GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES 



prove very acceptable for flavouring soups, etc., all we 

 need do is to sow seeds in March and transplant them in 

 September. From December onwards they will be ready 

 for pulling. 



Where more ambitious results are desired, the seeds 

 must be sown in a bed in February and pricked out in 

 their permanent quarters when they are about five or six 

 inches high. The soil of this latter plot should be rich 

 and not too dry. Trenches are thrown up about a foot 

 wide and equally deep. The bottom layers are well 

 mixed with cow or horse manure and fine earth is used 

 sparingly as a covering. Into this the seedlings, trimmed 

 of their longest leaves, are placed and, as they grow, the 

 earth is drawn up around them to permit of blanching. 

 When well established the leeks should be provided with 

 copious supplies of manure water. A good way of supply- 

 ing this is to run a pipe, six inches long, into the ground 

 between each pair of plants (Plate 10, Fig. 7). The liquid 

 manure is then poured through the pipe and speedily 

 finds its way to the roots where it is most needed. 

 Frequent draughts of plain water are also necessary. 



Where trenches cannot be conveniently dug, good 

 results may be obtained by plunging a crow-bar or broom 

 handle into the prepared ground, inserting one of the 

 seedlings, and dosing with water. The produce obtained 

 in this way will not be so large as obtained by trench 

 culture, but it will, nevertheless, be of a useful nature. 



Two pests, in particular, attack the onion family. 

 The first, the Onion Fly, causes the longest leaves to turn 

 yellow and, later, white. On pulling out a leaf from the 

 bulb of an infested onion, it comes away easily. The 



