no Commercial Gardening 



May and can be continued at intervals of a fortnight up to early August; 



the later sowings always run the risk of being touched by early frosts. 



Endive is best sown in drills 15 in. apart and singled out to 1-ft. spaces. 



A good green curled variety is Ru/ec, and a little of the broad-leaved 



Batavian Hearting (fig. 475) may be grown. Endive must be tied up 



tightly and left for the heart to 

 be quite bleached before being 

 pulled. 



The flying spores of a fungus 

 are apt to attack the tender 

 heart leaves of the Endive, espe- 

 cially during moist weather, 

 causing them to go brown round 

 the edges. These edges go rotten 



*Fi g .475.-Endive-Broad-leaved Batavian when the P lant is tled U P> and 



spoil its selling value. 



A spraying once a fortnight with a solution of liver of sulphur (1 oz. to 

 3 to 4 gall, of water) is recommended as a preventive, though its value is 

 at present more theoretical than practical. [w. G. L.] 



15. INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE 



The Maize plant (Zea Mays) is an American annual with many varieties. 

 In the United States something like 3,000,000,000 bus. of "corn" are 

 grown annually on about 70,000,000 ac. of land lying mostly in the 

 Mississippi valley, thus giving roughly an average of about 43 bus. to the 

 acre. Of late years the Maize plant has attracted the attention of both 

 farmers and market gardeners, the former looking upon it as a valuable 

 green fodder crop for their cattle, the latter as a vegetable worthy of some 

 attention. The heads or "cobs", if gathered before the "seeds" become 

 hard, and boiled for half an hour or so, make a palatable vegetable eaten 

 with salt and butter, and are considered quite equal to the best Peas in 

 flavour. For edible purposes some varieties are better than others, some 

 of the best for cultivation in the British Islands being the Early Sweet 

 Cory, Early Sweet Minnesota, Early Kendall's Giant, Extra Early Premo, 

 Golden Bantam, Peep o Day, Extra Early Tom Thumb, and others. For 

 cattle, the variety called Southern Horse Tooth is recommended. 



To make sure of a good crop of Indian Corn " cobs " in the more 

 favoured parts of the British Isles it is better to sow the seeds singly in 

 small pots or in shallow boxes in April, in a warm greenhouse or on a 

 hotbed, in a temperature of 60 to 65 F. The seedlings should have 

 plenty of light, and, if hardened off by the end of May, will be fit to trans- 

 plant to the open ground, about 2 ft. apart every way. The soil in which 

 they are placed should be deeply tilled and well manured in advance, and 

 the hoe should be used frequently, especially in hot dry seasons. 



