Sec- 30.] GARDEN CULINARY VEGETABLES. 481 



soil was very retentive and damp, and the plants earthed up in the usual 

 manner, I used sawdust, and found tliat it answered porlVctly. I^wt winter 

 all the late celery was earthed up Mith .'^aw.lust, and it kept quite wuud till 

 Aju-il, and no slugs or insects attacked it underground, the lieads being very 

 solid, clear, and crisp, and well flavored. I had some douhts that the saw- 

 dust from resinous trees might give the celery a disagreeal.lc flavor, but on 

 trial I found this not to be the case. IJefore the late severe frost occurred in 

 Ocfoher I had just finished the earthing up of all the late celery with sawdust, 

 and I And it is now wonderfully fresli. tlie frost not having' penetrated fur 

 through the surface to the hearts." 



Another correspondent reconinicnds charred earth in preference to saw- 

 dust, "as it^vill not only answer the puri)oso as well, l)Ut will allow the 

 rain-water to percolate more freely to the roots of the i>lants, and be i.f in- 

 iinite service to a soil of a damji, retentive nature." Tlie sawdust, hu thinks, 

 will induce an injurious growth of fungi in the soil. 



5-iO. fhiccory. — Tiiis is a garden i>hint, scarcely known to American 

 farmers, tliougii extensively grown in England, and within the htst ten 

 years it has become a favorite article of growth and consumption. It grows 

 somewhat like carrots, and its cultivation is similar, and its jtrincipal use is 

 to furnish a substitute for coffee, or an article t<> mix with it, f.s it is to a 

 great extent with all that is sold in a burnt and ground state for the pur- 

 pose of reducing the price, or if sold at the price of i>urc coffee, giving tho 

 manufacturer a larger profit. 



The carrot-like roots of the chiccory are washed, scrajied, and cut into 

 small pieces, and kiln-dried, and then roasted and ground like coffee. To 

 give the chiccory an oily appearance like coffee, lard is |>ut in the roaster at 

 the rate of two ])0Uiuls to a hutidre<l of <lried roots. It is colored with Ve- 

 netian red, or logwood and mahogany dust, where the chiccory is to be sold 

 nearly pure for " pure coffee." 



Altliongh not much grown liere, we believe some coffee roasters in Now 

 York know its value to theui, and import it in considerable quantities. No 

 doubt it may be profitably cultivated, not only for sale or use as a substi- 

 tute for cofl'ue, l)ut for a good forage crop in tlie lops. Sow it in A\>t'i\ in 

 drills a foot apart for hand hoeing, just as you should carrots, on rich, deep 

 soil, on such ground as would produce A good carrot crop, and iuirvcst in 

 autumn. Some grow the leaves blanrhe<l, to use as a salad, by taking up 

 the roots in autumn and trimming otVthe fops, and setting the roots in sund 

 in a dark cellar, when young blanched leaves start out. The roots live over 

 winter like i)arsneps, but, like them, are tough and stringy the second year. 

 The leaves resemble darulelion, and tops ap<l rof)ts have a delicate biller 

 taste, and are slightly aronuitic. For a forage crop, the t.qH grow very 

 ra]>idly and thick, and mayj)e cut four or five times. Tlie rootn, t««o, aro 

 very good for stock. We recommend its cultivation in gardens, in a small 

 way, until it'* value is well tested. 



541. Corn in Ihe Garden.— Tlierc arc several varieties of sweet com (uiiablo 



