46 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 20, 1876. 



tively shown Porter's Excelsior ■will be found to carry con- 

 siderable weight where a good dish of round or pebble-shaped 

 Potatoes are required. In fact it is for purposes of exhibition 

 that this Potato will be primarily cultivated, the quality of 

 older varieties being not only equal to it for table purposes, 

 but they can be more cheaply produced. Those requiring a 

 handsome Potato should add Porter's Excelsior to their lists of 

 sorts and so gratify their fancy ; for there is now-a-days much 

 enjoyment derived from growing Potatoes to " look at." — F. F. 



ASARUMS. 



Many moist places in our shady walks often present a naked 

 and bare surface. These are the very places the Asarums 

 should occupy. Some of them were introduced from other 

 countries, as Asarum 

 canadensis, which is 

 said to have found 

 its way to us from 

 Canada so far back 

 as 1713. They are 

 thought by some to 

 be more curious than 

 pretty. Be that as it 

 may, there is some- 

 thing both curious 

 and pretty about 

 them ; their beau- 

 tiful leathery Ivy- 

 like foliage has an 

 appearance different 

 to all other plants, 

 while their half-hid- 

 den curious flowers 

 may easily be un- 

 noticed by the casual 

 observer. They are 

 useful plants for the 

 purpose named 

 above and for damp 

 rockeries, and being 

 evergreen makeB 

 them more desirable 

 still. From North 

 America we have A. 

 arifolium and A. 

 grandifolium. From 

 Virginia we have A. 

 virginica. Asarum 

 europium, which 

 our figure repre- 

 sents, we call our 

 own, and it only re- 

 quires to be seen in 

 its native home to 

 be admired. It is said 

 to possess powerful 

 medicinal proper- 

 ties, used in cases 

 of sickness as an 

 emetic. 



The plants are 

 easily cultivated, and when once established require to be left 

 alone. Loam, peat, and leaf mould afford them a suitable 

 medium to develope themselves in. I have not tried them, 

 but I have an impression they would prove useful plants for 

 edgings in damp shady places. They are increased by division 

 almost at any time, but spring is the best time when growth 

 has commenced. I have seen them quite at home in peat 

 beds among other peat-loving plants in partial shade. If 

 we had a variegated form of this plant I am inclined to think 

 it would be an acquisition to our numerous hardy plants 

 that are now taking the proper places from which they 

 have so long been excluded. — N. 



ENDIVE. 



Endive is one of the most important of salad 

 and a supply of it is provided for use during the winter 

 months in all well-managed gardens. It is a very old vege- 

 table, supposed to be a native of China and Japan, and was 

 introduced into Europe in the early part of the sixteenth cen- 



tury. It is, however, so thoroughly established in this country 

 as to be considered by many an indigenous plant. The 

 Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is commonly known as the wild 

 Endive, and undoubtedly is a wild plant in many parts of 

 England ; but this is a perennial plant, the common salad 

 Endive, Cichorium endivia, being an annual. 



There are two distinct varieties of Endive — the broad-leaved 

 or Batavian, and the curled Endive, and of both these there are 

 many sub-varieties. An excellent form of the broad-leaved is 

 Fraser's or somebody's Round-leaved. This has very broad 

 midribs, which when blanched are of ivory whiteness, and 

 possess an agreeable nutty flavour. Endive is one of the 

 most useful of winter salad vegetables, growing freely, being 

 tolerably hardy, and blanching quickly. The green curled 

 varieties are very attractive in appearance, and "set off" 



to great advantage a 

 basket of salads for 

 exhibition purposes. 

 Both kinds are high- 

 ly worthy of culture, 

 the curled varieties 

 for appearance and 

 also possessing good 

 flavour, the broad- 

 leaved for everyday 

 usefulness and high 

 edible quality. 



For producing a 

 full supply through- 

 out the autumn and 

 winter months ,about 

 three sowings made 

 at intervals in July, 

 or two sowingB in 

 July and one in Au- 

 gust, are all that are 

 really necessary. If 

 ground is vacant it 

 is an excellent plan 

 to sow the seed very 

 thinly in drills about 

 18 inches apart.thin- 

 ning-out the plants 

 immediately they are 

 large enough to be 

 handled. The plants 

 also may be raised 

 in beds and trans- 

 planted ; but it is 

 highly important 

 that they are not 

 grown thickly in the 

 seed beds, as the 

 plants are neither so 

 stout nor so hardy 

 as when grown thin- 

 ly throughout their 

 whole course. The 

 latest July or early 

 August sowing is 

 generally the most 

 useful, this crop re- 

 quiring protective care, and it will yield produce throughout 

 the winter. At the approach of frost the plants may be trans- 

 ferred to spare frames or frost-proof sheds, and from thence, 

 as required for use, into warm and darkened places as Mush- 

 room houses, where blanching is perfectly effected. Before 

 very severe weather many plants are blanched in the garden 

 by covering them with pots, saucers, or tiles, the plants being 

 covered when the -foliage is quite dry. Blanching is also per- 

 fectly effected by completely burying the plants in dry soil. I 

 have frequently buried them, roots uppermost, on the south 

 side of rows of Celery, and have dug out most perfeot Endive 

 throughout the month of January. Some of the plants may 

 decay entirely, but many will have their hearts preserved, the 

 quality of which being very crisp and sweet. It is of the 

 greatest importance that they are perfectly dry when buried, 

 and also perfectly uninjured by frost, or decay of the plants 

 will be certain. 



Salads are so generally esteemed in winter as well as summer, 

 that good breadths of Endive must not be neglected, therefore 

 it is that I draw attention to this indispensable salad vege- 



■Asaram europamro. 





