C 138] 



XXVIII. On the Cultivation of Succory, or Wild Endive. 

 By Mr. Isaac Oldaker, F. H. S. Gardener to His 

 Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias. 



Read April 7th, 1818. 



J^h e Succory is well known and much used on the conti- 

 nent of Europe, where sheds or cellars, for preserving vege- 

 tables in winter, are used : it is little known at present in 

 England, and is not noticed, as an article for the garden, by 

 Miller, or any of our English writers on Horticulture. 

 Therefore a short account of its culture, if approved of by 

 the Members of the Horticultural Society, may be entitled to 

 a place in their Transactions. It is used as a salad, being 

 brought to perfection any time during the winter and spring 

 months, when Lettuce and endive are scarce. It is the Ci- 

 chorium Intybus of Linnaeus, and is a native of the British 

 Islands, growing plentifully in waste land : was regarded as 

 a weed, but of late has been occasionally cultivated as early 

 fodder for cattle. It is sometimes called Chicory, from the 

 French name Chicoree. It is perfectly hardy, and is peren- 

 nial ; but as the young radical leaves are the only part used 

 for the table, it is necessary to raise new plants of it each 

 season. In its wild state, these leaves are small, but under 

 cultivation they become large and succulent, and vary very 

 much in their shape and appearance. By the French Gar- 

 deners it is called, when blanched, Barbe-de-Capucin. 



