VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 349 



and at the present day is often associated with the name 

 of St. David, the patron saint of the Welsh. This plant 

 endures the extremes of heat and cold without injury. 



Ashes, bones, gypsum, and common salt will supply the 

 requisite inorganic materials for this or almost any other 

 garden crop. A compost of guano, gypsum and charcoal 

 would be very beneficial. 



Varieties. — There are two in common use — the Scotch 

 Champion, which is the larger and hardier, and the Lon- 

 don Clay, which by many is considered the better of the 

 two — both tall, with thick stems and broad leaves. Large 

 American flag is a large form, hardy and excellent 

 quality, and is a favorite. The Large Rouen Leek, with 

 dark-green leaves and a short stem, sometimes grown to 

 the thickness of a man's arm, is now most liked in France. 

 Its stem is said to grow large enough for use sooner than 

 any other, and it is now much esteemed. 



Culture. — The leek is raised solely from seed, which may 

 be sown at any time during autumn, winter, and spring, 

 until the middle of April. February is the best month 

 for the purpose, if but one crop is raised. 



The soil for leeks, as for the others of the onion tribe, 

 should be light and rich — the blackest and most fertile 

 soil of the garden — but the manure applied must not be 

 rank. The same guano compost may be applied as for 

 onions. They are generally sown broadcast, but it is a 

 much neater method to sow in drills. Make the drills in 

 the seed-bed eight inches apart, and about an inch deep, 

 and scatter the seed rather thinly. Press fine earth upon 

 the seed, as directed for onions. Some gardeners thin 

 them out, and allow them to remain in the seed-bed, but 

 the leek is so much improved by transplanting that this 

 plan cannot be recommended. When the plants are three 

 or four inches high, they must be weeded and thinned to 

 one or two inches apart, and frequently watered in dry 



