232 
THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
ia the same condition is quite impossible. To blanch the plants 
from the first and second sowing more readily than would otherwise 
be practicable, plant them in trenches about four or five inches in 
depth, and when they have made considerable progress, fill up the 
trenches by carefully drawing the soil up to the plants. The strong- 
growing Batavian, which makes a most excellent substitute for 
lettuce during the winter, may also be earthed up slightly in a 
similar manner to celery about ten days or a fortnight after the 
trenches are filled in. The soil will afford material protection from 
the frost whilst keeping the leaves together, and assisting to blanch 
the hearts. In tying up endive in the autumn it is most essential 
to take advantage of dry weather. In putting it into frames, the 
plants can be packed much closer together than would be desirable 
for lettuce, provided it is done when they are comparatively dry. 
The portable frames, of which there are a considerable number 
before the public, are most valuable in protecting salading during 
the winter. "When there is a supply of these, both lettuce and 
endive should be planted in beds of the proper width to receive the 
frames, so that protection can be afforded at the proper moment 
without the necessity of lifting the plants ; indeed, it will be simply 
necessary to level the sides of the bed and then fix the frame. In 
planting them with a view to their being covered without removal, 
the two outside rows should be about six inches inside of the line 
of the sides of the frame. During dry weather air should be 
admitted freely, but care must be taken not to expose the plants to 
rain or heavy dews, for when they once become wet there is no 
telling what mischief may be done. 
Chicoey and Dandelions. — The blanched leaves of both the 
chicory and dandelion are most useful during the winter ; the seed 
of these must, however, be sown in the spring. The latter, when 
cultivated, will produce a very large supply of tender, delicately- 
flavoured leaves throughout the winter, by providing three sets of 
roots. The cultivation of both is the same : the seed requires to be 
sown in March or April, in drills fifteen inches apart, and the plants 
to be thinned to a distance of nine inches apart in the rows. In 
November the roots can be taken up and laid in by their heels, 
where they can remain until required for use. The roots do not 
exactly require forcing, as they will commence to grow freely in an 
ordinary cellar ; and where there is no mushroom-house, it will be 
a most excellent plan to pack the roots close together iu boxes 
about twelvm inches deep, with a little fine and moist soil between 
them, and then place them iu a cellar. In the mushroom house 
they can be packed up together in one corner. To keep up a supply 
throughout the winter, three lots of roots will be required ; the first 
lot to be started when lifted in the autumn, the second as soon as 
the first lot begins to decline, and the third as soon as the second 
commences to show signs of exhaustion. Dandelion roots may be 
obtained from pasture and other land, but they will be small and 
by no means so profitable as those properly cultivated. Moreover, 
there is an improved form known as the Thick-leaved, which is much 
better than the ordinary wild form. 
