99 
The Cultivation of Vegetables 
be put back into the bottom heat for a week or so, until 
the plants have thoroughly taken to the new soil, after 
which they are gradually hardened off. If necessary, they 
may be potted into 6-in. pots. By the middle of April 
they should be quite hardened off, and able to do without 
the sash being on the frame. By the beginning of May 
they should bp planted out. A trench should be made, 
2 ft. broad and 2 ft. deep. Into this should be put 6 in. 
of thoroughly decayed farmyard manure, and on the top 
of this put about 12 in. of specially prepared soil, 4 parts 
loam (chopped up), 1 part well-rotted horse manure, and 
i part of wood ashes, with a 6-in. potful of bone meal to 
every barrowload of the mixed soil. The Leeks should 
be planted in this, and, when they have made some growth, 
paper collars should be put round the necks of the plants. 
The collars should be about 4 in. broad, and will cause 
the centres of the plants to draw up. When the centres 
have grown above the papers, the latter should be drawn 
up higher, and leaf mould — if possible — put round the 
bottom of them. Boards should be placed along the sides 
of the row, 6 in. from the plants. These will keep the 
leaf mould round the plants, and allow them to be watered 
and fed with liquid manure between the boards and the 
sides of the trench. As the plants grow, the papers should 
continually be drawn up higher and more leaf mould added. 
More boards should also be added, as required, until the 
full amount of “blanch” is obtained. From 14 to 16 in. 
of blanch is quite sufficient. After they have made this, 
they should be left to thicken up. A Leek with 14 in. 
of blanch and 1^ in. in diameter is a much finer specimen 
than one with 1 7 in. of blanch and only 1 in. in diameter. 
