216 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
usually performed by tying the leaves together with a string of matting), 
must only be done when the plants are perfectly dry, and should only be 
performed on a limited number at once. To save time, this operation is 
often performed in a very wholesale manner, a whole bed being tied up at 
once. This is all very well for a market gardener, who can cut a waggon¬ 
load in a day; but where only a certain number is required daily, it often 
happens that more than a third of the crop will rot off. The remedy is 
obvious—it is the minor detail of only tying up a few at a time. 
The next most important crop for salad purposes, after Lettuce, is 
Endive, of which there are two types, the Curled, and the Batavian or 
Broad-leaved. These are so liable to run to seed if sown early, that unless 
Endive is in particular request it is not advisable to sow before the middle of 
June, after which, if the plants are thinned out timely, and kept from extreme 
drought, they will not run. Two more sowings may be made during the 
season, at intervals of about a month. The last one, in August, should be 
the largest sowing, as from it are to be derived the main crops for the 
winter supply, and also for planting in sheltered places to stand through the 
winter. 
The seed may be sown either broadcast or in drills, the latter being 
generally preferred on account of the facility which it affords for thinning, 
which should always be done in time to prevent drawing. The first thin¬ 
ning should be made when the plants are about an inch in height, and 
whether in drills or broadcast they should be left at 8 inches apart. It is 
the neglect of this first thinning which is one of the minor details over¬ 
looked, for in five cases out of six we shall find that thinning the seed-bed 
is never practised until the plants are required for transplanting, and the 
consequence is that from being drawn up weakly, the plants have to make 
an entirely new start from the heart leaves, and a w 7 eek or ten days are lost 
in the growth of the plants. On the contrary, when they are timely 
thinned, and again for transplanting into beds, as soon as they are found 
to cover the seed-bed, they will become stocky and well rooted; and, if 
carefully watered when planted, will start into growth at once. A portion 
should always be left in the seed-bed at from 12 to 14 inches apart, to come 
in earlier than those which have been transplanted from it. 
Endive, like most other kitchen-garden crops, revels in good fat ground, 
and with regard to the sowing in June and July such may be allowed it, but 
with the later sowing in August this must be taken with a reservation, be¬ 
cause a fat soil brings up a succulent herbage, and such herbage is peculiarly 
liable to injury from frost. The August sowing is supposed to supply the 
months of December, January, and February at least, and from the smallest 
plants I have carried them on into March and the end of April; but from 
experience I find that the soil for these plants must not be so strong as to 
excite a succulent and tender growth. At all seasons it is advisable that 
Endive should be planted deeply—that is to say, the crown of the plant 
should be at least 2 inches below the surface level. To facilitate the 
operation, use a large sharp-pointed dibble, so that there may be a sort of 
basin formed round the crown of the plant for the reception of water, which 
must always be applied at planting time, though the seasons are rare in 
which it is required afterwards. Towards the end of September plantations 
should be made at the base of south walls. I generally plant Endive and 
Bath Cos or Hardy Green Lettuces alternately, and I find them to come in 
very useful; the Lettuce especially comes in about ten days or a fortnight 
before those in the more open quarters. 
