460 Foreign Notices. — Holland and the Netherlands. 



The Park of Monza extends two miles beyond the palace ; it is divided 

 into different enclosures of pasture, arable land, vineyards, and wood. A 

 great quantity of game is preserved here, and there is a numerous herd of 

 deer. 



The present Viceroy of Lombardy has made many improvements at 

 Monza. He has built several ornamental cottages in the park, which he 

 allots to the neighbouring peasantry ; he has erected a tower in the gar- 

 den, for the purpose of placing there a collection of cryptogamous 

 plants, and other objects of natural history, modelled in wax ; and he 

 causes to be introduced every year new plants, from foreign countries, 

 with a view to naturalise such as will live through the winter in Italy. 

 (J. Clare.) 



HOLLAND AND THE NETHERLANDS. 



Early Spring Salad. — Great quantities of the blanched leaves of chiccory 

 {Cichorium intybus) are sold in the markets at the Netherlands very early 

 in the spring, and supply a grateful salad long before lettuces are to be had. 

 The roots (which are of the shape and size of a carrot, and are extensively 

 employed, when dried, as a substitute for coffee) are taken up in autumn and 

 placed in a bed, almost as closely as they can stand together, with merely a 

 little earth to fill up the vacuities ; experience having seemingly taught the 

 Belgian gardener the important fact theoretically pointed out by Mr. Knight, 

 that the new annual supply of leaves of plants of this description is derived 

 from the stock of sap elaborated in the preceding year, and requires nothing 

 from the soil but moisture. Upon the bed of roots, thus closely packed 

 together and defended from frost in winter, a slight hotbed of manure is 

 laid in spring, with six or eight inches of earth interposed. Into this earth 

 the leaves shoot, struggling for light and air, and become perfectly blanched 

 and crimp, and lose most of their natural bitterness. The adoption of this 

 plan of cultivating chiccory, the large perennial root of which so peculiarly 

 fits it for this purpose, might be recommended to many great towns in the 

 north of England, where any thing in the shape of a salad is rarely seen 

 until the end of April, and then only tough green lettuces, far more bitter 

 than this invitingly white chiccory. In the Netherlands, it is in profusion 

 from the latter end of March. An acre of chiccory might be grown on cheap 

 land, five or ten miles distant from the place of consumption, the roots 

 brought by waggons in autumn, and planted in a few hundred square feet 

 of the market-gardener's more valuable ground, which they would occupy 

 only from October to April, at which time it is not otherwise wanted ; and 

 it might thus be profitably cultivated so as to be sold, as in the Netherlands, 

 at twopence for a bundle sufficient to fill a salad bowl, and be within the 

 reach of the poorest individual. {Note of a Friend.) 



If, with me, you think the plan of raising chiccory salad of some import- 

 ance, I wish you would call the attention of the London gardeners to it, if 

 it be not already known to them. Being myself ignorant how far they are 

 able to supply decent salads of Endivia or lettuce early in the spring, I have 

 only referred to the north of England, but if, as I suspect, no blanched salad- 

 ing is to be had in London at a moderate price before May, the plan would 

 be of still greater value there, as, to my taste, chiccory thus treated is little 

 if at all inferior to the C. .Endivia, and the roots might literally be grown 

 at Ipswich or Chelmsford, and there at so cheap a rate as to allow every 

 mechanic to have his bowl of salad for twopence, as here ; an object, it seems 

 to me, of much greater importance, than half of those for which our Horti- 

 cultural Societies offer their premiums. {Ibid.) 



We cordially agree with our correspondent, and hope some spirited 

 market gardener will make the attempt suggested. The gold medal of the 



