THE AMATEUR’S KITCHEN GARDEN. 
101 
mode of operating is to fold the leaves round the heart and 
tie with bast, and then to put a seakale pot over. A less 
sure, but not a bad way, is to heap coal ashes over each 
plant to form a cone, but sand or common mould will answer 
nearly as well if more convenient. The plants should be quite 
dry when tied up. 
Dandelion, Chicory, and Whitlooe. — A good supply of 
dandelion salad may be obtained by digging up a lot of roots 
in the autumn, and packing them in boxes with fine earth, 
and putting the boxes in any warm dark place. A little 
water will be necessary, and the salad must be cut when 
ready, for it soon becomes discoloured and decays if left too 
long. But a better way is to sow seed of Thick-leaved Dan- 
delion in April, and give the plant good cultivation. In 
November take up the roots and pack in earth in a shed 
until wanted for forcing. Chicory is to be treated in precisely 
the same manner ; but Whitloof should not be sown until 
the end of May, and should be thinned to six inches apart 
every way as soon as fairly up. As a rule, the mushroom- 
house is the best place for forcing these salads, but a warm 
cellar answers very well, and they may be easily managed in 
the same way as forced rhubarb and seakale, which can be 
well done even in a cottage garden, for a slight warmth, a 
little moisture, and perfect darkness are the only requisite 
conditions. 
Small Salads comprise Mustard, Rape, and several sorts 
of Cress. They should never be mixed, but sowed separately, 
and in very small quantities at a time, so as to be cut fresh 
and young, for when the rough leaves appear they become 
worthless. The only nice point in the cultivation of these 
useful adjuncts to the salad bowl is to keep up a regular 
supply all through the winter. After trying several plans we 
have settled down to a routine that answers perfectly. We 
reserve a few old boxes for the purpose, cutting them down 
so as to be only two inches deep, and they are mostly two 
feet or so square. An inch of fine earth is put in, then a 
sprinkling of -water, then a sprinkling of seed, and the work 
is done. The seed is not covered. The boxes are put in a 
geranium-house, where the seed soon sprouts, and when the 
plant is wanted we draw out a tuft with the left hand, cut off 
the roots with a pair of scissors held in the right hand, and 
the pretty stuff goes to the kitchen so clean that it might 
