228 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



Fig. 120. — Curled Endive. 



plant to almost every one. It is now of spontaneous growth here 



and is used for greens in its wild 

 state; but the cultivated varie- 

 ties are quite an improvement on 

 the wild plants. The best method 

 of growing it is by sowing the 

 seed in the spring in drills ten 

 inches apart and thinning out the 

 plants to three inches apart in 

 rows. The seed is somewhat dif- 

 ficult to start, and it is a good 

 plan to go over each row twice 

 with the seed sower, so as to mix 

 the seed up with the soil, since 

 by this method some of it will be 

 sure to be properly covered. It 

 is sometimes used in the fall, but 

 not generally until spring. It is often forced by covering the bed 

 with the hotbed sash or by transplanting to hotbeds or cold 

 frames. It is sometimes blanch- 

 ed and used as a salad, for which 

 purpose it is much like endive. 

 While the plant is a perennial, 

 yet only one crop should be har- 

 vested from each sowing, since 

 after the first cutting there are 

 many sprouts produced from 

 each root so that none of them 

 are large enough for good mar- 

 ket plants. The plants should 

 always be plowed in before they 

 ripen seed unless seed is to be 

 saved, to prevent its scattering and becoming a nuisance. A va- 

 riety called the Improved Thick-Leaved is the most esteemed. 

 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. (Helianthus tuberosus.) 

 Native of North America. — Perennial. — Stems herbaceous, 

 six or more feet high, roots tuberous. Flowers yellow, resem- 

 bling those of the common sunflower, but comparatively small. 



Figure 121.^ — Dandelion. 



