350 GARDENING FOK THE SOUTH. 



weather. The seed-bed must be kept clean and light by 

 weeding, or the use of the hoe whenever required, until 

 the plants are six or eight inches high, when they will be 

 fit for transplanting. They must then be taken away from 

 the seed-bed, the ground being previously well watered, 

 if not already soft and yielding. 



Having prepared beds four feet wide by spading in a 

 quantity of well-rotted manure, lay it off in little trenches 

 twelve inches apart, and as deep as the hoe will conven- 

 iently go. Dibble holes three inches deep, and nine inches 

 apart in the bottom of the trenches, in which set out the 

 plants. Press the earth to the roots and neck only, and 

 not to the leaves. The tops and roots may be slightly 

 trimmed and shortened. Some prefer planting them, as 

 is best for shallow soils, on the level surface of the pre- 

 pared bed, by inserting them in holes made with the 

 dibble nearly down to the leaves, with the whole neck 

 beneath the surface, that it may be well blanched. Choose 

 a moist time for transplanting, and give a little water 

 should they droop. A portion may remain in the seed- 

 bed six inches apart in the rows, but they do not grow as 

 large as the transplanted ones. 



The beds must be hoed occasionally, to keep them free 

 from weeds and loosen the soil. In dry weather they 

 should be freely watered. By cutting off the leaves a 

 little about once a month, the neck will swell to a much 

 larger size; earth them up gradually, if they stand on a 

 level ground, and, if in the trenches, the earth should be 

 drawn by a hoe, little by little, into the trenches, as the 

 plants increase in growth. 



If a very early crop is desired, they may be planted in 

 September, and the plants will be ready to set out the 

 middle of February ensuing, and will come into use in 

 June or July. Leeks can be planted between almost any 

 other crop by giving six inches extra room. 



