5 8 THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES 



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 

 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. 

 Sutton's Incomparable may have eighteen inches on strong ground, 

 and it is equally adapted for cooking and salading. In taking the 

 last lot from the seed-bed for planting, a crop should be left to mature 

 without being moved at all ; these may be left twelve to fifteen inches 

 apart, and they 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 



