ACETARIACEOUS PLANTS.-SUCCORY. 



165 



growing season, that will supply the 

 means for the young coming leaves dur- 

 ing winter forcing, for they of themselves 

 can collect little or nothing towards the 

 support of the crop. 



Subsequent culture. — About the beginning 

 of October the roots should be lifted, the 

 leaves being carefully cut off, but not so 

 close to the crown as to endanger the hearts 

 of the plants. Amateurs had better leave 3 

 inches of the base of the old leaves, to pre- 

 vent accident. The roots are then planted 

 as thick as they can well be done in a bed 

 of sand on the floor of a mushroom-house, 

 packing the sand closely about them, and, 

 when finished, giving a good soaking of 

 tepid water. Old boxes may be filled with 

 them, and casks, as is usual on board of 

 ship, having their sides perforated with 

 holes 1^ inches in diameter, and 7 or 8 

 inches apart. Lay a few inches of sand 

 in the bottom of the cask, and on that lay 

 the roots horizontally, with their crowns 

 in the centre of the holes ; on this layer 

 of roots lay more sand and roots until the 

 cask is filled, watering each layer of roots 

 as they are covered with the sand. Large 

 flower-pots may also be used, or indeed 

 anything that will keep the sand together. 

 It may be convenient to fill many of these 

 at once ; and by placing them in a dry 

 cellar or open cool shed, they will remain 

 for a month or two stationary. For the 

 first gathering, one or more of these should 

 be removed to a warmer place, where a 

 temperature of from 45°, 50°, to 60° can 

 be maintained, and where light can be 

 completely excluded. In a week after- 

 wards place another supply in, and so on 

 during winter, or as long as the stock of 

 roots lasts. They will seldom afford more 

 than one gathering, and may be then 

 thrown away, and the boxes or casks filled 

 again with roots from the open ground. 

 In this way a constant succession of salad 

 may be kept up from the beginning or 

 middle of November till April. Some 

 recommend taking up all the crop of roots 

 at once : this is unnecessary, until the be- 

 ginning of February, when they will begin 

 to become naturally excited into growth. 

 It is expedient then to remove them to a 

 bin of sand in the cellar, or to bury them 

 deep in the ground, to prevent their growth. 

 It is also recommended by some to shorten 

 the roots and remove the side fibres ; but 

 this is only cutting off the resources of the 



VOL. II. 



plant, and lessening its means of produc- 

 ing a crop of large succulent leaves. 



This excellent and wholesome salad was, 

 we believe, first brought into notice in 

 Covent Garden market by the indefatig- 

 able Mr Cuthill, who, in 1839-40, carried 

 the first sample of it which appeared 

 there in his own hand. It was in conse- 

 quence of a letter from that individual, 

 published in " The Gardeners' Magazine," 

 about fifteen years ago, that this plant was 

 first grown as an article of field-culture, 

 for the purpose of its roots being used for 

 mixing with coffee. This is somewhat 

 strange, seeing that it has been a common 

 marketable article on the Continent time 

 out of mind. 



Mr Cuthill sows his chicory about the 

 first of June, either broadcast or in drills. 

 When the plants are up, they are thinned 

 out to a foot apart, and the ground is kept 

 free from weeds. The roots are taken up 

 in November, and stored by exactly like 

 beet. When endive becomes scarce, the 

 chicory roots are planted in 1 6-sized pots, 

 five roots in each. When the chicory begins 

 to spring, invert 24-sized pots over those 

 the roots are in ; exclude the air, and place 

 them in a forcing house or frame : each 

 pot will afford three or four cuttings. A 

 dark mushroom-house, where a fire is 

 kept, is an excellent place for chicory; and 

 a cellar is good for spring crops, but sel- 

 dom warm enough, if not artificially heated, 

 to depend upon for a regular winter supply. 



The Belgians and Dutch blanch im- 

 mense quantities of chicory during winter 

 and spring ; indeed, it forms one of the 

 most prominent articles in their vegetable 

 markets for several months together. The 

 roots are taken up in autumn, and all the 

 larger ones selected; they are then placed 

 in a bed, almost as close as they can stand 

 together, with merely a little earth to fill 

 up the spaces between them, experience 

 having taught the Belgian gardener the 

 important fact pointed out theoretically 

 by Mr T. A. Knight, that the new annual 

 supply of leaves of plants of this descrip- 

 tion is derived from the stock of sap ela- 

 borated in the preceding year, and requires 

 nothing from the soil but moisture. Upon 

 the bed of roots thus closely packed toge- 

 ther, and defended from frost in winter, 

 a slight hot- bed of manure is laid in spring, 

 with 6 or 8 inches of earth interposed. 

 Into this earth the leaves shoot, struggling 



Y 



