126 VEGECULTURE 



the plants are large enough for blanching, owing to the excessive 

 moisture. It is a good plan, in such cases, carefully to scrape 

 away a small quantity of soil from the surface immediately 

 underneath the basal leaves. This can be done without dis- 

 turbing or damaging the plant in the least, and it will certainly 

 remain drier and blanch better. Blanching forward plants in 

 cool frames finds favour with many cultivators, but they often 

 make the mistake of packing the plants too closely together, 

 with the result that many of them decay. The remedy consists 

 in removing some of the useless outer leaves, and disposing the 

 plants more thinly. There are several distinct variations in 

 cultivation, the best known being the ordinary Curled Endive, of 

 two kinds suited to summer and winter use ; the Moss-curled, 

 which is very decorative ; and the Broad-leaved or Batavian, a 

 splendid winter salad, particularly tender and crisp, and 

 extensively cultivated. The flowers of the Endive, when 

 allowed to form, are well worthy of a place in the flower- 

 border. They arc really pretty, of a blue colour, and very 

 effective. 



THE LETTUCE (Lactuca saliva) .This salad plant, a native 

 of India, is so well known to everyone as to render any attempt 

 at description superfluous. It may be pointed out, however, 

 that few people ever grow the Lettuce to perfection, on account 

 of its very pronounced tendency to run to seed instead of 

 hearting. Seeds are sown, for an early supply, in frames, at 

 the beginning of the year ; or there are varieties which may 

 be sown during the previous autumn to stand through the 

 winter. In either case, early supplies are ensured. The 

 autumn-sown seedlings are transplanted into their permanent 

 quarters before the winter arrives, while those sown early in 

 the year may either be pricked out in other frames or under 

 cloches, or in the open wherever a sheltered spot is available. 

 The main sowings are successional, and may be performed from 

 February (upon a spent hotbed or in an open frame) to July. 

 The mistake often made with Lettuces is that the seedlings are 

 allowed to stay too long crowded together in seed-beds ; it is 

 far better to transplant an inch or two apart in nursery-beds of 

 good soil as soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, 

 and from there removed to the position they are to occupy 

 as adult plants. The seeds may also be sown very thinly in 

 the place where they are to remain, and the plants thinned 

 gradually to between six and twelve inches apart ; all the 



