36 



HOCKINGS' GARDEN MANUAL. 



long ; place them underneath the fruit with the open 

 side uppermost. 



ENDIVE. 



The cultivation of this useful salad is the same as 

 for lettuce, which see. 



Blanching : When the leaves are quite dry and 

 the plants have attained nearly their full size, gather 

 the whole plant up in your hands in a conical form, 

 and tie it round lightly with a strip of banana fibre, 

 which is to go several times round the plant, causing 

 it to end so pointedly at the top as to prevent the rain 

 or dew from penetrating to the interior. Endive is 

 sometimes blanched under garden pots, or blanching- 

 pots, after the manner of seakale. A week to a fort- 

 night will generally be sufficient. 



EARTH NUTS. 



This plant is also known as " pea nut," and 

 a pindar ground pea." It is grown extensively in the 

 Southern States of America, in China, and other 

 countries. 



Make the hills in August, two and a-half to 

 three feet apart, and drop three or four of the shelled 

 seeds in each ) cover them two inches deep : thin the 

 plants to two in a hill, and keep the ground free from 

 weeds. The best soil is a rich sandy loam. 



To promote fruiting, the branches should be spread 

 out evenly, and gently pressed to the soil. 



The nuts are highly exteemed in England and 

 France, and the demand is said to be almost unlimited. 

 The quantity exported from Bathurst, on the coast of 

 Africa, had increased from 47 tons in 1835 to 11,904 

 tons, valued at about £130,000, in 1851. A fine oil is 



