THE 144 



GARDEN YARD 



ENDIVE. 



Endive is a summer and fall crop, thriving 

 at a time when it is not easy to grow lettuce 

 to perfection. * It is, therefore, a good addition 

 to lettuce, and its culture is largely the same, 

 though endive takes longer to mature than 

 lettuce does. Endive matures under proper 

 care about fifty days after the seeds are sown. 

 If seeds are sown in June the plants will be fit 

 for table use in August or September. 



Endive requires about the same sort of soil 

 as lettuce, the same tillage and the same general 

 treatment. The plants should stand about 

 a foot apart each way to make cultivation 

 easier. It is sometimes sown in cold-frames, 

 but just as often in the open field, and successive 

 sowings will give successive crops, but that which 

 gets its start during hot weather is not satis- 

 factory. The inside leaves of the crown are 

 usually blanched by tying them together near 

 the tops for two or three weeks before the plants 

 are ready for market. The blanched sort 

 brings a better price. The disadvantages of 

 blanching are that the plants fade and decay 



* Note. — Fullerton says that the narrow-leaved, deeply serrated 

 plant called endive in this country, in France is the chicory or 

 succory known to all Americans as a roadside weed with beautiful 

 blue flowers like a very open aster. 



