208 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENINa. 



sunny wall, about June 1st, also fruit during favour- 

 able summers. The fiuit consists of many colours, 

 in separate varieties. 



Endive {Chkorium Endivia). French, Chicoree ; 

 Gei-man, Unclivien ; Spanish, Endivia. — This 'is a 

 hardy annual introduced long since from China and 

 Japan. Owing to the more succulent leaves of im- 

 proved forms, it has become less hardy than of yore ; 

 hence only the very smallest plants withstand the 

 severity of our ordinary winters. Used generally as 

 a salad plant, it is nevertheless in demand for culi- 

 nary purposes. It can only 

 be grown well under very 

 generous treatment. Good, 

 deep, well-manured and well- 

 worked soil is an essential 

 therefore. The best crops 

 are those of autumn, winter, 

 and early spring. During 

 the summer months heftt and 

 aridity force the plants out 

 of heart into the seeding 

 state. The first sowing 

 should be made upon a rich 

 warm border early in April. 

 Transplant the seedling- 

 plants, leaving only a thin 

 crop to remain upon the 

 seed-bed to fully develop, at 

 distances of about five inches 

 apart. Hoe well amongst 

 them, giving an occasional 

 watering with liquid manure. 

 Transplant the "drawn" 

 seedlings on to a cool rich 

 border in rows nine inches 

 apart. Plant them deeply, 



by which means a better heart will be formed. 

 Make a second sowing about the middle of May 

 upon a cool rich site. Sow the seeds thinly, as at 

 this time seedling plants should not be transplanted. 

 Thin this crop out, permitting the plants to develop 

 upon this extended seed-bed. For the autumn and 

 winter supj)lies, sow about July 20th, and for succes- 

 sional crops once a fortnight subsequently until the 

 end of August. 



Immediately any seedlings are large enough, trans- 

 plant them at once into deep rich soil, and a sunny 

 aspect, leaving sufl&cient upon each seed-bed to con- 

 tinue growing into the perfect plant. The produce of 

 the two last sowings transplant in rows thickly across 

 any warm border at the foot of a wall or fence having 

 a sunny aspect. Here they will stand through the win- 

 ter, and prove useful for the early spring supply. For 

 autumn sowing a part of the seed sown may consist 



Black Pekin Egg plant 



of the Bata\'ian variety, having smooth leaves, which 

 are more hardy than those of the curled varieties. 



To prepare any crop for use, judge when it has 

 nearly attained to its prime ; then tie the leaves all 

 up tightly together to enclose the centre, or place 

 a black slate over each plant, so that it lies flatly 

 on heart and leaves. Each process will blanch the 

 centres of the plants, when they will be fit for use. 

 Hence such quantities must be tied, or slated, in suc- 

 cession, as will furnish the needful supply in a state 

 fit for use. 



At the approach of frosts, late in autunrn, take up 

 and place in pits or frames 

 as many of the larger-sized 

 plants as possible. Plant 

 them in soil deeply, holding 

 the leaves tightly around 

 each plant whilst doing so. 

 "\^^lere the convenience of 

 frames or pits does not exist, 

 such large plants may be 

 bm'ied up to within an inch 

 of the apices of the leaves, so 

 drawn together around the 

 hearts, in dry mould in a shed 

 or similar outhouse. The 

 best sorts are Green Curled, 

 and the Bata^dan is as good 

 a f o]Tn as procurable. 



Amongst curled varieties, 

 Earlej-'s Digswell Prize, 

 Large Rufitec, and^Miite Curl- 

 ed are best, Eraser's Batavian 

 being the best broad-leaved. 



The Chicory of commerce 

 is often grown in gardens as 

 an aid to winter salads. As 

 this belongs to the same 

 genus as Endivia, being the variety of Cichorium 

 having th6 specific name Intybus, we refer to it in 

 this place, but its culture has been already described 

 at page 54. 



Leek [Allium Forriim). French, Poireau ; Ger- 

 man, Z«wcA ; Spanish, Puerro ; Italian, Poro. — The 

 Leek is a hardy biennial, and a native of Switzer- 

 land. Its introduction dates back as far as any 

 vegetable. Though grown very generally in gardens 

 of some extent, it is not so generally grown in small 

 English gardens as from its hardihood and merit it 

 deserves to be. The gardens of Wales and Scotland, 

 nevertheless, make up for this, as there it is all but 

 invariably met with. Its culture is of the simplest. 

 Sow seeds upon an open airy site, if possible with a 

 dry subsoil, in soil heavily manured, anj^ time after 

 the first week in March. The seedling plants when 



