468 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



of soil well patted and smoothed off to throw off rain. 

 Fully six weeks should elapse from the final moulding before 

 the ridges are broken into. Very fine early Celery for 

 exhibition could be obtained by binding bands of brown 

 paper about the stems, and in such case feeding with 

 liquid manure can go on to the last moment. In very 

 severe winters it is wise to give the Celery ridges some 

 protection by placing against them Fern or long litter, or 

 else thatched wattle hurdles to ward off frost. 



Chicory. — A British plant found abundantly on our chalk 

 soils, carrying pretty blue flowers, yet few seem to care 

 to cultivate it. With that great salad-loving people, the 

 French, it is in great favour, and would be in Britain 

 were it better known. The two chief varieties are the 

 common Chicory or Barbe de Capucin and the Witloof 

 or Brussels. The latter is the finest. Both, when well 

 grown in gardens, furnish roots that in warmth and in 

 soil such as is needful for Seakale forcing soon produce 

 blanched leaves and stems some 6in. high that form most 

 delicious saladinir, and with plenty of roots put into a 

 dark warm place in batches a supply can be kept up for 

 a long linn.-. Of course darkness such as is found in a 

 cellar hi other close place is essential to perfect blanching. 

 Seed should be sown in well-prepared garden soil in 

 April in May, in rows I2in. apart, the plants when up 

 being thinned out to gin. apart. Late in the autumn the 

 roots should be lifted and laid in thickly, then put into 

 boxes of soil and stood in warmth to blanch as needed. 

 A very gentle heat suffices to promote growth, as the 

 temperature of a cellar is always much higher than is that 

 of the open ground in winter. 



ColeWOrtS. — These constitute a distinct and very useful 

 section of Cabbages. There are two forms, the Hardy 



HARDY GREEN COLE WORT 



Green, which closely resembles an ordinary small Cabbage, 

 and the Rosette, which has broad flattish heads. Both are 

 good, and may be planted quite thickly, say I4in. apart 

 each way. The seed should be sown about the middle of 

 fune to blue strong plants to go out at the end of August 

 or early in September, and these will give off their soft, 

 marrow-like hearts during midwinter. Their flavour is 

 distinct from that of the Cabbage, and, being hardy, they 

 are very valuable winter greens. Red Cabbages grown for 

 pickling are ol two forms, the oldest being the Large Red, a 

 very strong, coarse-growing variety, that takes a long 

 season to produce heart, and needs ample room. This 

 variety will, in deep, rich holding soils produce heads 

 weighing from 61b. to gib. But for all ordinary purposes 

 the better one is the 1 > waif Blood-Red. This is dwarfer, 

 redder, much less coarse. It occupies less ground space, 

 also hearts in earlier, the hearts being very solid, and of a 

 deep blond-red colour. It is the rule to sow seeds of these 

 varieties in April, as before advised, putting out plants into 

 good soil in fune, and they head in early in August and 

 during September and October, according to variety. No 

 one w ho once grows the Dwarf Blood-Red variety would 

 grow the old coarse red one afterwards. The plants of 



the one should be put out in rows 2ft. apart, and of the 

 other nearly 3ft. apart, as the leafage is so large. 

 CllCUmberS. — Because a tender member of a large family, 

 the Cucumber must of necessity, in Great Britain, be 

 grown under glass, with the aid of warmth chiefly fur- 

 nished artificially. Ridge Cucumbers, a rather hardier 

 section, and Gherkins for pickling are grown outdoors 

 under special conditions of culture, such as selecting for 

 them warm situations. Giving them shelter from cold winds, 

 sowing or planting on moderate soil ridges, some 3ft. in 

 breadth, beneath which has been placed some warm 

 stable manure, and securing the best possible growth. 

 After spring frosts are over and before those of the autumn 

 come, the culture is simple, and, on the whole, it is best 

 to sow in small clumps 2ft. apart along the top of the 

 ridge, five seeds, covering them up with hand-lights, 

 or other simple protection, for a time, especially at night, 

 and if all the seeds grow pulling out a couple and leaving 

 three. These having their growths neatly spread out and, 

 il they come too freely, properly thinned, will soon carry 

 fruit. These, however, may be lair or poor according to 

 the season, lor it is only during warm summers that 

 outdoor Cucumbers thrive. House Cucumbers ini hide 

 all the very best-known varieties, and generally these 

 produce fruits both smooth and shinv, of divers lengths, 

 ranging from loin, to 2oin.. and, if desired, even longer. 

 Fruits, however, ranging from I2in. to 1 5111. are, on the 

 whole, the most useful and profitable. Colour is an 

 important feature, and the skin should be dense green, but 

 so far as flavour is concerned, little difference is found in 

 pale or green fruits, or in those that are smooth or shinv, 

 w hilst excellent Cucumbers may be grown in an unheated 

 greenhouse or frame. During the summer artificial heat 

 furnished either by hot water piping or a dung bed becomes 

 indispensable for their production in other seasons. 

 House culture is the most favoured now, not only because 

 the warmth can be easily and not expensively furnished 

 with a proper apparatus, but it can be regulated according 

 to needs and seasons. That a dung bed cannot be ; as 

 a rule it is better at the beginning and becomes cooler as 

 time passes and the plants greatly need warmth. A 

 proper Cucumber house for winter forcing should be 

 either of span form or a lean-to, that is, a house erected 

 against a wall lor its back, and should be partiallv 

 sunk in the ground, as so built much less surface is 

 exposed to the weather. Where there is no south wall 

 to build against in sloping form towards the sun, then it 

 is best to have a low span house about 12ft. wide, 

 the sides standing 3ft. from the surface, and the ridge, or 

 roof centre, some 5ft. high. To give ample head room 

 w ithin, the centre w alk or alley of the house, entered by a 

 centre and sunken door, should be quite 2 ft. lower, cut 

 literally out of the earth, the soil on each side being left 

 to form si ages or shelves. Steps at the door and outside 

 enable the lower level to be reached. The path 

 sin mid be fully 2ft. wide, and the soil on either 

 side fastened by 4jin. brick or concrete walls. Unless 

 the subsoil be naturally well drained, a sunken path 

 should not be made unless beneath a drain put in carries 

 oil all water and keeps it dry. In putting in heating 

 pipes, two of 4.in. should be run along on the soil bed 

 I2in. from the side of the house and on each side, and 

 return one over the other on each side of the alley or 

 side by side on the top of the brick sustaining walls. 

 Every care must be taken to secure a gentle rise to the 

 farther end ol the house, where the turn in the pipes 

 takes place, and a gentle return fall. The pipe force 

 seems considerable, but when in severe weather in the 

 winter it is found needful to keep up a temperature of 

 from 7odeg. to 8odeg., only by the aid of ample heating 

 force can this be done. On stout cross bearers fixed just 

 over the side pipes may be laid troughs or long shallow 

 boxes with trellis bottoms 2oin. wide, and inside 8in. 

 deep. Into these should be placed first coarse pieces of 

 turf to keep in the fine soil and allow the heat from the 

 pipes below to pass into the soil and warm it. Then fill 

 up the troughs or boxes quite an inch higher in the 

 centre with good turfy loam, fairly firm in texture, with 



