Gardening for Amateurs 



957 



The frames must have attention in regard 

 to ventilation and watering, and the Potatoes 

 have all the air possible in fine warm weather, 

 or the tops will grow too freely and become 

 drawn, and the crop of tubers will suffer in 

 consequence. If it is found that the tops get 

 too near the glass, the frame should be lifted 

 slightly and held up by blocks of wood or 

 bricks. With foreign supplies of Potatoes 

 coming so early on our home markets these 

 early Potatoes might not prove to be a 

 commercial success, but they are well worth 

 a trial in some districts and in some circum- 

 stances. The succeeding crop of Radishes 

 will help to pay expenses, and the same 

 bed of manure and soil with very little 

 addition can be utilised for a crop of Melons 

 or Cucumbers. This is a system I have found 

 successful over a number of years. 



Endive. In many French gardens in 

 this country, but not in all, this crop is 

 considered a necessary one. There is a 

 demand for well-blanched Endive, but it is 

 not a very heavy one. In the depth of 

 winter it is quite an easy matter to over- 

 supply our home markets with Endive, and 

 growers seem generally to recognise or fear 

 this, as there are not as a rule big quantities 

 of Endive grown. A sowing of seed should 

 be made in early July of Ruffec Curled, and 

 another sowing in August. With the latter 

 sowing it is advisable to sow seeds of Green 

 Batavian, for raising plants for marketing 

 just before the early Lettuces are ready to 

 cut. It may be necessary to water the 

 ground in which the seeds are sown from 

 time to time to assist in germination. When 

 the young plants are 1 or 2 inches high, 

 plant them out about 1 foot apart on a 

 sheltered bank or border. The earliest sown 

 may generally be blanched where grown, 

 either by tying them up when dry or placing 

 flat slates or tiles upon them. The later 

 plants need to be taken up in October and 

 replanted in a frame. They can be stored 

 close together in this way, and if carefully 

 treated during the dull days of winter in 

 regard to moisture will keep quite fresh and 

 good until midwinter. Placed closely to- 

 gether in this manner a partial blanching 

 takes place, and when the frame or a portion 

 of a frame is darkened, the plants are not 

 long before they are ready for market. It 



is obvious that well -grown properly blanched 

 hearts sell better than poor green produce, 

 and growers should remember this in market- 

 ing the plants. 



Lettuce. The culture of Lettuces in 

 frames and cloches for the early spring 

 markets is one of the chief items in French 

 gardening. The seed is usually sown in 

 October on a well-prepared plot of soil in 

 the open, or it can be sown in a cold frame 

 or under one or two cloches if the number of 

 plants required is small. The seedlings when 

 through the soil are pricked off under lights 

 or cloches 2 or 3 inches apart, and in 

 such positions they remain until required 

 for planting at mid-winter on the beds of 

 soil and manure, where they are placed to 

 succeed the Radishes. They are cleared 

 out of the way of the Carrots sown at 

 the same time as the Radishes are planted. 

 It is quite possible to have a supply of 

 Lettuces right through the winter without 

 going to the trouble of making up beds of 

 manure. But it is safe to say that Lettuces 

 stored through the winter in cold frames 

 and houses are never of such good quality 

 as frame-grown plants which, on the gentle 

 heat and rich light soil, come so rapidly 

 to maturity. Nearly all of them are 

 edible, so sweet and tender are the quickly- 

 grown leaves. For many years I have been 

 accustomed to grow a number of Early Paris 

 Market Lettuce in boxes, and in this way 

 very nice hearts were secured by placing 

 the boxes as required in gentle heat, but even 

 these were not quite of such good quality 

 as Lettuces raised by the frame and cloche 

 methods. The usual practice is to plant out 

 after the Radishes and Carrots are sown, 

 from 25 to 30 Lettuces being placed under 

 each light. When the latter are cleared the 

 frames are left to the young Carrots. Some 

 growers have found it pays to leave the 

 Carrots out of the frames and plant a second 

 crop of Lettuces instead. In such a case as 

 this each grower must be guided by his 

 knowledge of his customers' requirements. 

 For cloches, beds of manure and soil are 

 prepared as for frames, and the Lettuces 

 are planted under the cloches, usually one 

 Cos Lettuce in the centre of each with four 

 of the Cabbage variety around it. The 

 Cabbage Lettuce should not be planted too 



