HORTICULTURE. 



263 



no doubt known in this country long before that date. 

 The Welch are proverbially fond of leeks. 



" Leek to the Welch, to Dutchmen butter's clear !" 

 sings Gay ; nd the description of a plain prose writer 

 justifies the remark : " I have seen the grecter part of 

 a garden there stored with leeks," says Worhdge, 

 f peaking of Weles, " and part of the remainder with 

 onions and garlic." Leeks formerly constituted an in- 

 gredient in the dish called porrage, a name, indeed, 

 which may be supposed to be derived from jvrrvm. 



There are three varieties: the narrow-leaved or Flan- 

 ders leek ; the Scotch, or flag leek, sometimes called 

 the Musselburgh leek ; and the broad-leaved or tall 

 Ixmdon leek. The latter variety i* often cultivated ; 

 but for exposed situations, the Scotch leek is by much 

 the more hardy. 



Leeks are raised from seeds sown in the spring, 

 much in the same way a* onions, and occasionally along 

 with these. They are at first sown closely in beds ; 

 and in June or July, when early cabbage or an early 

 crop is removed, the leeks nre planted out in rows about 

 a foot apart, and six inches asunder in the rows. The 

 tips of the leave", and the points of the fibrous roots, 

 are commonly tr.iruu d off before planting. A good 

 rule it, to make a deep hole with the dibble, and mere- 

 ly to lay in the letk-pUnt up to the leaves, without 

 closing the earth about it. In this wav the stem of the 

 leek is encouraged to swell and lengthen, and is at the 

 same time blanched. This plan, however, must cither 

 be adopted only in moist weather, or the plants must 

 be well watered, so as to insure tluir taking root. It 

 U remarked, that if the leaves be topped two or three 

 times during the summer, the leeks grow to a larger 

 size ; as new heart leave* are pushed forth, ar.d the 

 talks, or useful part, are tl.us innre&M d. They are ready 

 for use in the autumn and wii.ur. When there is a 

 prospect of severe !.-!. | ..rt c,t the leek crop is some- 

 time* lifted, and laid, with the root* in sand, in a 

 cellar. 



In good seasons, the seed ripen* perfectly well in 

 this country. For producing seed, the largest plant* 

 are selected, and in February are transplanted to the 

 south side of a wall or hedge. A* the flower.stems 

 advance, they are supported by strings passed along 

 and fixed to stakes, being apt to be broken by the wind, 

 especially when the heads get large and heavy. When 

 ripe, hicti is generally in September, the beads be- 

 come brown ; they are cut off along with part of the 

 stalk, and hung up for some weeks, 

 then rubbed out. 



and the seed is 



Cibol. 



341. The Cibol, or Welch Onion, (AL 



Ay raised from seeds, 



in July. The seeding |>l*v* MM *sjar; 



course of October, the lea*** go off, and the ground 

 BOSOM quite bar*. A* early a* January, however, they 

 agmtn begin to shoot, and by March they are fit for 



bat, in the 



I. a CiboaJe de U Jaeamtt of the French), is i 

 ennial plant, a native of Siberia. It afninui, 

 Parkinson, that it was cultivated in 1699, but it was 

 known long previously. Although called Welch ooson, 

 it produce* no bulb ; bat the fittuUr leaves, and the 

 lower part of the stem*, are much used in salads m 

 the spring month*. They have rather more of the 



garlic than of the onion flavour, flimiti they at* 



planted as scalhon* ; indeed, some eanaiaV this plant 

 a* the true stallion, bat without toft) " 



use, being then very green and tender. As might be 

 expected of a Siberian plant, it withstands our severest 

 winters. The wide-swelling fistular leaves give it ra- 

 ther a curious appearance ; a few plants may therefore 

 be suffered to stand on a south border of the garden, 

 where they will in general ripen their seed. 



Dr Johnson (Diet, in loco) remarks, that the name 

 cibol is frequently used in the Scotch dialect, but that 

 the / is not pronounced. By the term cibo or tybie, 

 however, the Scots mean a young seedling onion of the 

 common kind, gathered for use before the swelling of 

 the bulb : the true cibol is very little cultivated in 

 Scotland, and is not distinguished by the common peo- 

 pie. 



Chnxt. 



S42. The Chite, or Give, (Allitm Scficrnopratutt, chirck 

 L.) is a perennial plant, of more humble growth than 

 any of its congeners in the garden. It U a native of 

 Britain, but not common : it occurs, among other pla- 

 ces, in the south of Scotland, on low hills near Haw- 

 ick ; it is figured in " English Botany," piste 2441. 

 The bulbs are very small and flat, and grow connected 

 together in clusters. Whrn gathered lor use, they are 

 cut or thorn like cresses, and on this account ore ge- 

 nerally spoken of in the plural. The young leaves 

 are employed principally as a salad ingredient in the 

 being accounted"^ milder than tcallior? . Occa- 

 the leaves and imall bulb* are used together, 

 to the bottom, and thus fanning, as it were, 

 separate little cibol*. Sometime* they are added a* a 

 seasoning to omelet* ; and they are useful for other cu- 

 linary purpose** 



( liives are readily propagated by parting the root*, 

 either in autumn or spring, and tl y ill prow in any 

 soil or situation. They thould be repeatedly cut du- 

 ring the rummer season, the successive leaves prodn- 

 t eo in this way being more tender. A (mall bed or 

 border thus managed, will afford a sufficient supply : 

 it will continue productive for three or four years, when 

 a new plantation should be made. Chives are some- 

 time* planted a* an edging ; and if they be allowed to 

 grow up, they make a pretty enough appearsnce with 

 their pale purple flowers in June. 



Garlic. 



34S. Garlic (Allium tatitum, L. ; Ail of the French) Garlic. 

 i* a perennial plant, growing naturally in Sicily, and 

 in the south of France. The leave* are linear, long, 

 and narrow. It ha* a bulbous root, made up of a do- 

 Ben or fifteen subordinate bulb*, called cloves. It was 

 cultivated in England in 1 .Mb ; but had probably been 

 known long before that period. When an entire bulb 

 i* planted, it doe* not fail to throw up a flower-stem in 

 tht Bummer ; but this is not wihi d. (iarlic is there- 

 fore propagated by detaching the cloves, and planting 

 them ; ana in this way the tendency to flower is less. 

 It may be propagated also by the seed ; but this mode 

 i* tedious, three years elapsing before a tolerable crop 

 is produced. The soil should be light and dry, well 

 delved, and broken fine. The sets are placed four inches 

 distant from each other in every direction, and between 

 two and three inches deep. The smaller the cloves, the 

 more healthy and productive are the plants. They are 



5 at hi, in February or March. About the middle of 

 une the leaves are tied in knots, to prevent the strong- 

 er plant* from spindling or running to flower/ and 



