296 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



grown plants may be taken up with balls and removed to a 

 vegetable-house, where they can be blanched. For particulars of 

 the ways in which Endive is forced, we must refer to special 

 treatises on market gardening and early spring crops. 



Culture in Britain. — Endive 

 requires much less heat than Let- 

 tuce, and is chiefly valuable as an 

 autumn and winter salad vegetable. 

 In many gardens, if sown before 

 August, it is almost certain to run 

 to seed prematurely, and conse- 

 quently it is unwise to depend upon 

 one, or even two sowings. 



Sowing. — Make a small sowing 

 of the Moss-curled and Green Curled 

 about the middle of July, another of 

 the same varieties and Improved 

 Broad-leaved Batavian about the 

 first week in August, and a final 

 sowing of Green Curled and Batavian 

 at the middle of August. The Moss- 

 curled is close-growing and blanches 

 quickly, but is the least hardy, and 

 is not at all suitable for late work. 

 This variety requires less room than 

 the others, and may be sown in 

 drills 6 in. apart, and the plants 

 should eventually be thinned out to 

 the same distance asunder. The 

 other two are strong growers, and 

 the rows may well be 12 in. apart 

 and the plants 10 in. asunder in the 

 rows. The first sowing is made on 

 a small border previously used for 

 pricking out Cauliflowers and 

 Brussels Sprouts, and but few of 

 the seedlings are transplanted unless 

 it be to make up blanks. A long 

 border previously well enriched for 

 early Cauliflowers is given up to the 

 second sowing, being prepared by 

 simply having the surface lightly 

 coated over with lime and heavily 

 hoed. The drills are drawn and 

 watered, the seed sown thinly and 

 lightly covered. For the final sow- 

 ing a warmer or rather better drained 

 border is preferred — one previously 

 cropped with early Potatoes. Dig- 



ging being unnecessary in the former 

 case, it is still less so when planting 

 or sowing ground after Potatoes, 

 but if the ground be at all poor, 

 fork in, but not deeply, a dressing 

 of short manure. Usually there is 

 great difficulty in preserving the 

 young plants from slugs, and not 

 unfrequently it is necessary to sow 

 seeds in a frame so as to have 

 sufficient plants to make up the 

 large blanks caused by these pests. 

 In some gardens where the soil is 

 Hght, and the drainage good, it is a 

 good plan to plant the Endive in 

 shallow drills, say, about 6 in. wide 

 and 3 in. deep. In such positions 

 they can be easily watered, and an 

 occasional supply of liquid manure 

 poured between them will cause 

 them to grow to a great eize. These 

 drills also render blanching a simple 

 matter, all that is necessary being to 

 cover a few plants a few days before 

 they are wanted with either boards 

 or slates. In order to have Endive 

 in good condition over as long a 

 period as possible, extra pains must 

 be taken with the 



Blanching and Protecting. — 

 Unless properly blanched. Endives 

 are not appreciated, and unless some 

 measures are taken to ensure pro- 

 tection, they are liable to be much 

 injured, if not actually killed, by 

 frosts. All that is necessary in the 

 case of the early crops is to either 

 tie up a certain number at weekly 

 intervals, much as we would Brown 

 Cos Lettuces, or cover with boards, 

 or with rough litter or hay, and the 

 same methods of blanching may be 

 adopted with those protected. Under 

 hay the Endive blanches perfectly, 

 without being soiled or injured in 



