Endive Garlic 



heads and many late ones. Sow in drills an inch deep and six inches 

 apart, and when the plants are an inch high draw the forwardest, 

 and prick them out on a bed of rich light soil in the same way as 

 Celery, and with a little nursing these will make a first plantation. 

 The plants in the seed-bed should be thinned to three inches, and 

 must have, water in dry weather. All the thinnings should be pricked 

 out in the first instance to make them strong for planting, but the 

 last lot may go direct to the beds to finish. 



The final planting must be on rich, light, dry soil, and water 

 must be given to encourage growth. The distance for the curled 

 varieties is a foot each way, and for the broad-leaved fifteen inches. 

 In taking the last lot from the seed-bed, a crop should be left 

 untouched to mature at twelve to fifteen inches apart. These plants 

 will give a first and most excellent supply if carefully blanched. 



The blanching is an important business, and is variously per- 

 formed. The customary mode is to tie the leaves together and 

 mould them up. This method answers perfectly, except in wet 

 seasons, when, if the plants stand for some time, the outer leaves 

 begin to rot, and the decay proceeds inwards, to the deterioration or 

 destruction of the plant. A clean and effectual process of blanching 

 consists in tying the top of the plant, leaving room for the centre to 

 swell, and then covering each one with an empty pot, which must be 

 pressed down firmly on the earth. The hole is darkened with part 

 of a tile or slate, on which should be laid a piece of turf or a handful 

 of mould. In some gardens coal ashes are used instead of earth to 

 pack round the plants, and they offer the advantage of dryness. 

 But the plants may be blanched without any covering at all, the 

 leaves being first tied over rather tightly at the top, and a week after 

 another tying should be made lower down. The blanching must be 

 carried on in such a way as to insure a succession without a glut at 

 any time, for when sufficiently blanched Endive should be used, or 

 decay will soon set in. 



GARLIC 



Allium sativum 



THE mode of culture advised for Shallots will suit Garlic also, except 

 that the latter should be planted in February about two inches beneath 

 the surface of the soil, and the bulbs may be grown closer together, 

 about eight or nine inches apart each way. 



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