The Culture of Vegetables 



ENDIVE 



Cichorium Endivia 



As a result of the growing taste for wholesome salads Endive has in 

 recent years advanced in public esteem. The flavour of well-blanched 

 Endive suits most palates that have had experience of salads, and of 

 the salutary properties of the plant we have a hint in its close relation 

 to the Chicory. 



The selection of sorts is a question of importance, because the 

 handsome curled varieties that make the best appearance on the 

 table (and might be regarded as ornaments if they were not edible) 

 are the very finest for salads, being tender, and with a fresh nutty 

 flavour. The broad-leaved sorts are not so well adapted for salads 

 as for stews, and they take the place of Lettuces when the latter are 

 not available for soups and ragouts. However, when an emergency 

 occurs, the curled varieties will be found suitable for cooking, and 

 the broad-leaved for salading, and therefore there need be no waste 

 where one sort predominates. 



A difficulty common to Endive culture may be got over in the 

 way advised for Celeriac. The plant requires a light, dry, sandy soil ; 

 and a portion, at least, of the crop is expected to stand through the 

 winter. Thus on a heavy soil there is a prospect of failure in respect 

 of the late crop, but that is obviated by adopting a made bed one 

 of smallish dimensions being sufficient to accommodate a large stock 

 of plants. Select an open spot, make a foundation of any hard 

 rubbish that is at hand, and on this put one to two feet of sandy soil. 

 This will form a raised bed of a kind exactly suited to the plant, and 

 will cost but little as compared with its ultimate value. If regularly 

 dressed with manure, and otherwise well managed, the bed will 

 supply Endive in winter and other salads in summer, or it may be 

 cropped with Kidney Beans, which can be removed in August to 

 make way for the usual planting of Endive. Where the soil is 

 naturally light and dry no such preparation is needed, but Endive 

 does not come to perfection without food, and therefore the soil 

 should be rich and deeply dug. 



The seed may be sown as early as March, in a moderate heat, but 

 the latter part of April is early enough for most purposes, and the 

 main sowings are made in June. Later sowings may be made in 

 July and August. But the June sowing is the most important, as by 

 a little careful management it may be made to supply a few early 



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