THE ENDIVE. 



675 



SOW in seed-beds and transplant (1368). The plants to stand through the 

 winter for spring-transplanting are sown in a cold frame about the middle of 

 September, and planted out in February or the beginning of March. The first 

 spring sowing for transplanting is made on heat, and the subsequent sowings in 

 the open garden ; always on comparatively sandy, poor soil, that the plants 

 may form abundance of roots and comparatively rigid foliage, so as not to 

 suffer so much from transplanting, as if they had been grown on rich soil, and 

 consequently had tender succulent leaves and roots. The routine culture 

 consists of little more than weeding and watering ; each crop being but a 

 short time on the ground. In the beginning of summer the Cos varieties 

 are sometimes slightly tied up with matting, to hasten their blanching. In 

 gathering, pull up the plant, and take the outside leaves and roots at once 

 to the rot-heap. 



1506. Lettuces as small salad are produced by sowing the seed in drills, 

 and cutting over the plants when they are in the third and fourth leaf, as is 

 done with mustard and cress. 



1507. To save seed, a few plants which have stood through the winter 

 and been transplanted into rich soil in spring, or some spring-sown plants, 

 may be allowed to run, and the seed will be ripe in August, and will keep 

 three years; but as it is very precarious to save lettuce seed in wet seasons, it 

 is an excellent method to grow a few plants in pots in good soil, one in each 

 pot, and place them in front of a south wall, moving them under glass shelter 

 to ripen off, if the weather render it necessary. Birds are very fond of lettuce 

 seed ; and the lettuce-fly, Anthomyia Lactucse Bouche (see Kollar, p. 160), 

 lays its eggs in the flower, the larvss produced by which live on the seed. 



Forcing. — See 1109. 



SuBSECT. II. — The Endive. 



1508. The endive, Cichorium Endivia L, (Chicoree des Jardins, jPr.), is 

 a cichoraceous fusiform-rooted biennial^ said to be a native of China and 

 Japan, but long cultivated in European gardens for its leaves as salad. 

 These are blanched to diminish the bitter taste, and they are used chiefly 

 in autumn, winter, and spring. There are two principal varieties; — The 

 Batavian, syn. broad-leaved (Chicoree scarole, Fr.^ ; and the curl-leaved 

 (Chicoree frisee, Fr.) ; of each of which there are a number of sub- varieties. 

 As the season for endive is from August till March or April, the first sowing 

 is made about the middle of June ; the second about the end of that month ; 

 the third in July ; and the fuurth in the beginning of August. The plants 

 are seldom raised where they are finally to remain (though in very dry 

 weather they succeed best by that mode), but generally in seed-beds ; and 

 for one four feet wide by ten feet in length, | oz. of seed is sufficient. The 

 advantage of sowing in seed-beds, and afterwards transplanting, in this and 

 similar cases, has been already noticed (1868). When the plants attain three 

 or four leaves, they should be transplanted into rich soil, at one foot apart 

 every way ; and, as they are generally earthed up, to facilitate this process, 

 they may be planted in drills. The two latest crops for use during winter 

 and spring should be planted in a dry, warm border, or on the south side 

 of an east and west ridge. 



1609. Blanching. — As the summer and autumn crops advance to maturity, 

 a portion should have the leaves tied up every ten days or fortnight, to cause 

 the hearts to blanch and become tender, crisp, and mild-tasted ; but thl 



