ENDIVE. 335 



ENDIVE. 

 Chicorium endivia. 



Endive is a hardy annual, said to be a native of China and 

 Japan. When fully developed, it is from four to six feet in 

 height. The leaves are smooth, and lobed and cut upon the 

 borders more or less deeply, according to the variety ; the 

 flowers are usually of a blue color, and rest closely in the 

 axils of the leaves ; the seeds are small, long, angular, and 

 of a grayish color ; their germinative properties are retained 

 for ten years. Nearly twenty-five thousand are contained in 

 an ounce. 



Soil. All of the varieties thrive well in any good, mellow 

 garden soil. Where there is a choice of situations, select 

 one in which the plants will be the least exposed to the 

 effects of drought and heat. 



Propagation. The plants can be raised only from seed, 

 which may be sown where the plants are to remain, or in 

 close drills in a nursery-bed for transplanting. If sown 

 where the plants are to remain, sow thinly in shallow drills 

 a foot apart for the smaller, curled varieties, and fifteen 

 inches for the larger, broad-leaved sorts. Thin out the 

 plants to a foot asunder as soon as they are large enough to 

 handle, and keep the ground about them, as well as between 

 the rows, loose, and free from weeds, by repeated hoeings. 

 If required, the plants taken out in thinning may be reset in 

 rows at the same distances apart. 



If sown in a nursery-bed, transplant when the young 

 plants have eight or ten leaves, setting them at the distances 

 before directed. This should be done at morning or evening ; 

 and the plants should afterwards be watered and shaded for 

 a few days, until they are well established. 



The first sowing may be made as early in spring as the 

 weather will permit ; and a sowing may be made a month or 



