9ALADINGS. 



267 



numerous leaves, deeply toothed, which spread in a flat rosette 

 firmly pressed on the ground, and from the axils of which the 

 flower-buds are borne on smooth, cylindrical, hollow stalks. By 

 cultivation and by selection of the best plants, the number and size 

 of the leaves have been greatly increased, and plants are easily 

 produced now which, when ready for use, weigh considerably 

 over one pound. 



In France wild Dandelions are often gathered from grass 

 lands, and such plants as have been accidentally earthed up by 

 being buried in mole-hills are considered a delicacy. 



But Dandelion has been grown as a vegetable in the vicinity 

 of Paris for half a century or so. At Montmagny, Deuil, 

 Sarcelles, and Meaux considerable spaces are devoted to it every 

 year, and large quantities are sent to the Paris market. 



The field culture is made by sowing in April, in rows about 

 2 feet apart ; the soil must be pressed hard before sowing, and 

 again after covering the seed. Plants are thinned to 3 or 

 4 inches in the rows. Weeding in summer is very important. 

 In September or later the plants are earthed up with loose soil, 

 which by hoeing is made into a small ridge on the top of each 

 row. The plants grow through the earth, even in winter, and as 

 soon as the leaves begin to appear on the surface the plants are 

 ready for use. Some leaves always manage to steal to the light 

 unperceived, and immediately turn green. Dandelion grown on 

 that system is called "half-blanched," and the wholesale price 

 it fetches is only from eight to twenty shillings per hundred- 

 weight. 



Dandelion is also treated in the same way as Chicory is for 

 Barbe de capucin, of which more will be said hereafter. Crowns 

 are pulled up in winter with all their roots and put on a heap of 

 manure, in a cellar or other dark place, with some earth or 

 thoroughly decayed manure under the crowns. In eight or ten 

 days the leaves grow to a length of from 5 to 6 inches, and 

 they are then cut and sent to market, where they sell for from 

 ten to twenty-eight shillings per hundredweight. 



In gardens Dandelion is generally sown on a seed-bed, pricked 

 and planted out 18 to 20 inches apart each way, which allows of 

 some other quick-growing crop being raised between the rows. 

 Before winter the plantation is cleared up of everything except 

 the now strong plants of Dandelion ; all the dead or decaying 



