166 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



for light and air, and becoming perfectly 

 blanched and crisp, and losing most of 

 their natural bitterness. With us who 

 have greater convenience in the shape of 

 heated cellars, or other places capable of 

 having light completely shut out, we ma- 

 nage better, by planting the roots in beds 

 on the floor, and thus produce the crop at 

 less risk and greater certainty as to time, 

 without half the labour. Planting in large 

 pots or in boxes, and inverting pots or 

 boxes of the same size over them, and 

 setting them on the floor of a vinery, and 

 behind the hot- water pipes or flues where 

 they exist, or indeed in any out-of-the-way 

 place where there is a temperature from 

 50° to 55°, and exclusion from light, will 

 secure this excellent winter and spring 

 salad in great perfection, and with little 

 trouble. 



Those who desire it during spring may 

 readily blanch it in the open ground, leav- 

 ing some roots where they grew, and plac- 

 ing sea-kale or endive pots over them. 

 They will continue to yield a crop until 

 they begin to run to seed. 



Taking the crop. — Each head of leaves is 

 cut when of 7 or 8 inches long, taking 

 with them a thin slice of the crown to 

 keep them together, as in cutting sea-kale. 

 When washed and tied up into small 

 bundles of a handful each, they are fit for 

 dressing. Three handfuls will make a 

 good-sized salad, and may be eaten alone 

 with oil and vinegar, or mixed with a little 

 chervil and tarragon, or with young lettuce. 



Sorts and their qualities. — The Continental 

 growers profess to have three sorts — the common 

 large-leaved, the Chicoree a navet, or Cafe-chi- 

 coree, and the variegated. 



General remarks. — The European names are, 

 Chicoree sauvage in French ; Cicoria in Italian ; 

 Gemeine cichorie in German ; Suikerei in Dutch ; 

 Achicoria in Spanish. In saving seed, select 

 some of the strongest roots that have not been 

 forced ; support the flower-stalk as it advances, 

 and cut them over when flowering is done, and 

 treat them as recommended for lettuce. The 

 seed will keep three or four years. 



§ 6. — DANDELION, TARRAGON, ETC. 



Dandelion (Leontodon Taraxacum L.) belongs 

 to the natural order Compositse, sub-order Cich- 

 oraceae, and tribe Taraxaceae, and to the class 

 Syngenesia and order iEqualis in the Linnaean 

 arrangement. The generic name is derived from 

 Leon, lion, Odon, a tooth, from the tooth-like di- 

 visions of the leaves. Indigenous to most parts 

 of Britain, particularly in rich soils. 



The young leaves, even in their green state, 

 make an excellent ingredient in salads ; and the 

 leaves are an excellent substitute for succory, 

 and for this purpose they are blanched during 

 winter in a similar manner. (See Succory.) It 

 is a neglected and despised plant, which might 

 be made much use of by the poor, and those liv- 

 ing in towns who have no gardens ; for roots of 

 it may be got for the digging up, and, if planted 

 in sand in a dark cellar, or even in pots set on 

 the window-sill, much wholesome matter might 

 be obtained from it. The roots are as valuable 

 as the leaves. It is produced in great quantities 

 in the London markets, although we are not 

 aware of its cultivation being tried upon a com- 

 mensurate scale to meet the demand. 



The amateur who may wish to grow the dan- 

 delion in his cellar for salad purposes, should 

 possess the root-extractor, fig. 60, an excellent 

 implement for the purpose of taking up such 



Fig. 60. 



ROOT-EXTRACTOR. 



roots, which can be carried in the pocket. The 

 mode of using it is to thrust it deeply into the 

 ground, so placed that the root may be taken 

 between the prongs. The bent part near the 

 handle, acting as a fulcrum against the surface 

 of the ground, greatly facilitates the withdrawal 

 of the root without breaking it, when the handle 

 is pressed towards the ground. 



General remarks. — The European names are, 

 Dents de lion, or Pisse-en-lit, in French ; Amar- 

 gon in Spanish; Paardebloem in Dutch; Lowen- 

 zahn in German ; Piscia in letto in Italian. Our 

 own common English name bears a close re- 

 semblance to some of these. 



Tarragon (Artemisia Dracunculus L.) belongs 

 to the natural order Compositae, sub-order An- 

 themideae, and to the class Syngenesia and order 

 Superflua in the Linnsean arrangement. The 

 generic name is derived from Artemis, one of the 

 names of Diana. Pliny, however, informs us 

 that in his time there was an opinion that the 

 plant was named after Artemisia, the queen of 

 Mausolus, king of Caria. The specific name is 

 said to have been given from the tortuous form 

 of the roots resembling the sinuous tail of a 

 dragon; others think it derived from Tarchon, 

 the Arabic name of the plant. It is a native of 

 the south of Europe, others say of Siberia, and 

 was introduced into England in or before 1548. 



It is cultivated for its leaves and the points of 

 its young shoots, both of which are used as an 

 ingredient in salads, soups, stews, pickles, and 

 other compounds. Tarragon vinegar, so much 

 esteemed as a fish-sauce, is made by infusion of 

 the leaves in common vinegar. It is also added 

 to most salads to correct their coldness. Three 

 or four plants are sufficient for an ordinary fa- 

 mily ; but if required during winter in a forced 



