ENDIVE. 107 



Culture. The plants can only be raised from 

 seed, which is sown in beds of rich mellow earth, 

 and raked lightly in ; the season of sowing it de- 

 pends upon what time the plants may be wanted 

 for use. 



In order to have a very early crop, a sowing 

 should be made about the third week in May : when 

 sowing takes place too early, the plants are apt to 

 run to seed ; and when it is deferred too long, the 

 plants do not attain a sufficient growth before they 

 are set in the autumn. 



The Green- curled variety is the best for the 

 earlier sowings. From the time the seed is first 

 sown, occasional slight waterings must be given 

 when the weather is dry ; the plants should be kept 

 perfectly clear from weeds, and properly thinned 

 out, so as not to draw up too fast and in a weakly 

 state. When they are from four to six inches high, 

 they are to be planted out in a rich well-prepared 

 bed or border ; the plants for the early crop in as 

 open a situation as possible, and for the later the 

 more southern and sheltered the better, in order that 

 the plants may better stand the severity of the winter. 



The ground being well prepared, the plants can 

 be taken up from the seed-bed with their roots as 

 perfect as possible ; drills, the depth of a hoe, should 

 be drawn across the bed or border (as the endive 

 blanches with less trouble than if inserted on a 

 level surface), and the plants, after having their 

 roots and tops shortened, put in with a dibble 

 twelve inches apart each way ; and, with a good 

 watering, they will soon strike root. Little more 

 need be done till they have produced a new set 



