VEGETABLE GROWING 407 



borders or beds made to slope somewhere to the south. There, needing only an occasional 

 hoeing, they remain and become quite strong. There are two forms, the Curled and the 

 Broad-leaved or Batavian. Both are hardy. When fully grown the former is best 

 blanched by covering the plants close on a dry day with boards or slates, tiles, or 

 similar materials, as by thus excluding light and air the hearts become white and tender. 

 When such is the case they can be cut and eaten. The Batavian Endive, being of more 

 erect habit, can be blanched by tying up the leaves closely. A second planting rather 

 later can usually be made from the one sowing, and thus a succession is obtained. In 

 some cases, plants when of full size are lifted with balls of soil attached to the roots, 

 and blocked in close together in a dark frame, or cellar, or outhouse, but kept absolutely 

 dark, and in that way are easily blanched. Some, failing other conveniences, maybe put, 

 a dozen at a time, into large boxes, which can be covered up close with lids or newspapers. 



Horse-Radish. A little of this in a garden is very useful. Short sets or crowns 

 should be planted in deeply cultivated soil in February. 



Kohl Rabi. During recent years the small or garden forms of this vegetable have 

 become popular. It somewhat resembles a green turnip, and seeds should be sown in 

 April in shallow drills 15 inches apart. Thin as advised for Turnips, which see. Good 

 varieties are Earliest White and Short-top Green. 



Leeks. These edible stem plants deserve far wider culture than they usually get. Pos- 

 sibly some prejudice against them exists because they belong to the Onion family, but their 

 perfume and taste are not strong, and they are really excellent as a cooked vegetable when 

 properly blanched, as the process of blanching the stems takes away all strong flavours. 

 Leeks can be easily raised from seed, and a gardener in a small way may raise sufficient 

 plants for his first crop by sowing seed in a lo-inch shallow pan filled with fine soil, standing 

 it in a frame to promote germination. That may be done early in April. The young plants, 

 when 4 inches in height, may be lifted from this seed-pan, and be dibbled up thinly into 

 shallow boxes, or under a hand-light, or in a frame, where they become strong and well- 

 rooted in about a couple of weeks. From thence lifted carefully with balls of soil and 

 roots, and transplanted into a trench as prepared for Celery, growth soon goes on, and in 

 a little time some soil maybe put around the stems, this going on all the summer, and by 

 the end of August, or soon after, the plants will have stout stems, blanched as white as snow, 

 to a height of from 10 inches to 12 inches. These may be lifted and trimmed, and cooked 

 as required. A second sowing may be made outdoors about the middle of May. From this 

 plants can be put out, as before described, late in the summer, and they will be hardy enough 

 when well earthed up to stand the winter, and give stems over a long season and at a time 

 when vegetables are scarce. Stems such as are usually furnished at exhibitions are very 

 large, quite as big round as broom handles. These are far too big for ordinary table use. 

 Those about the dimensions of an ordinary walking stick are better. Many persons are 

 content to dibble their plants out into rows 18 inches apart, letting the stems down in 

 dibbling them quite 4 inches, and then later, as the plants grow, adding a little soil to 

 them. But it is much better to prepare trenches with manure buried into them, as is done 

 for Celery, as growth is quicker, and the blanched stems are, when cooked, more tender. 

 There are a few slightly diverse varieties of Leeks, but under ordinary cultivation one is 

 about as good as another. For exhibition, the Champion, Exhibition, and Lyon are 

 esteemed the best, and they are equally so for ordinary garden culture. 



Lettuce. The most popular and widely-consumed of all leaf or heart salads is Lettuce, 

 and it can be had good for a long season. There are two diverse forms, one being tall, 

 and erect, called Cos, the other of dwarf form, somewhat squat, and hearting, and 

 called Cabbage. There are white, green, and reddish lines in both sections, and some of 

 the latter are much curled. Both are good, although some consumers prefer the latter 

 form for eating. Seed is cheap and plentiful. Sowings may be made at frequent intervals, 

 beginning in March under glass, sowing thinly in a shallow box or plan, and standing it 

 in a frame or greenhouse ; then having the young plants, when a few inches high, lifted out 

 and dibbled 2 inches apart into other boxes, or else into a frame, or under hand-lights, for 

 a few weeks, when they are strong enough to plant outdoors on to a warm border to 

 give a supply for early cuttings. Both Cos and Cabbage forms may be so sown. A 

 further sowing may be made on a warm border, and rather more largely, early in April, 

 and others, always quite small ones, in succeeding months, as in that way a supply of 

 plants for cutting is kept up. The latest sowing should be made about the middle of 

 September, in a frame filled with soil to within a few inches of the top. Such a sowing 

 should be of Hick's Hardy Green Cos, and Black Seeded Brown Cos. These are amongst 

 the hardiest, and can be kept as strong seedling plants through the winter, ready to plant 

 out in March in a sheltered position. The latest sowing for outdoors in the summer 

 should be made about the middle of August of the above-named varieties and of Hardy 

 Cabbage varieties. These can be planted out at the end of September beneath walls, or 

 on warm, sloping banks or borders, to stand the winter. Summer Lettuces are most valu- 



