272 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



made to penetrate between them, so as to hold them firmly 

 in their place. More earth is added so as to cover the tops of 

 the roots about 8 inches deep, and to fill the pit level with the 

 garden soil. The pit is generally made 4 feet wide, and often 

 very long, but the whole is not forced at one time. 



Stable manure is heaped on the part which is to be forced, 

 lvj to 3 feet high. In twenty days the " Witloof " is marketable. 

 The manure is then removed, pushed further on if not exhausted, 

 and being mixed with fresh material it serves to force the next 

 batch. 



The eatable part of Witloof is 4 to 5 inches long, not quite 

 2 inches in diameter, in the shape of the head of a small Cos 

 Lettuce ; it is almost pure white, very solid and firm. A piece 

 of the crown of the root is cut along with it, which is too bitter 

 to be eaten. Used as a salad Witloof is milder in taste, and at the 

 same time more w r atery, than Barbe de cccpucin. It is also used 

 cooked, and in that way comes nearer Seakale than any other 

 vegetable I know of. 



From one ton to a ton and a half comes daily to the Paris 

 market from Brussels and the neighbouring places in winter, 

 the market price averaging thirty to forty shillings per cwt. The 

 heads are generally placed in small baskets ready for retailing. 

 Witloof is known in Paris as endive, which is a wrong name, as 

 the denomination applies to the garden varieties of Cichorium 

 Endivia, the Curled and Batavian Endive. 



Some growers in the suburbs of Paris have attempted the 

 cultivation of Witloof by the apparently simpler and more 

 effective system of placing the roots on the manure instead of 

 heaping the manure on the top of the roots. They simply cover 

 the crowns of the roots with earth or mould to the depth of a 

 few inches. But the shoots generally expand instead of remain- 

 ing closed as in the Belgian Witloof. It appears that the pressure 

 under which the growth takes place in the Belgian system keeps 

 it hard and firm, and gives the whole the conical and solid shape 

 which greatly assists in making it carry and keep well. 



Witloof is now quite an adopted winter salading and vegetable 

 in Paris ; it can boast the success of a new favourite, while 

 Barbe de caj}ucin and Dandelion are to us old and well- 

 established acquaintances. Still all three vegetables (although 

 Witloof was mentioned in the excellent paper read by Mr. 



