THE KITCHEN GARDEN 251 



liigli on the tall flower-stalk with its curious swollen 

 base. Shallots stand like soldiers in their ranks, so 

 neatly and evenly do they grow, with then dark- 

 green upright leaves looking like well-to-do patches 

 of Jonquil. Chives is a neat edging-plant, growing 

 in close tufts, the chopped leaves good in salads. A 

 row of Leeks is a pleasant sight, both growing and 

 served in a dish as a green vegetable ; the mildest of 

 all the Onion tribe. The wild Garlic is such a pretty 

 plant, with its heads of w^hite flowers and broad deep- 

 green leaves like those of Lily of the Valley, and 

 makes such fine sheets of good green foliage in some 

 of the neighbouring woods, that I am always tempted 

 to naturalise it in the home copse, being only deterred 

 by its extremely rank and unpleasant smell when 

 touched, or even when only stirred by the wind. 



There are several Garlics (Allium) in garden 

 cultivation, the one best known being the yellow- 

 flowered Allium Moly. Then there is the useful A. 

 neapolitaimm, so much imported as an early market 

 flower; and one very handsome one with a tall stalk 

 and round head of a really good blue {A. azureum), 

 a native of Siberia, not at all common in gardens. 

 There are several garden kinds with dull pink flowers, 

 but I do not think them of much importance. 



At first sight there does not seem to be much 

 connection between Potatoes and Tomatoes, and yet 

 they are nearly related, and bear the same botanical 



