ENDIVE

Cichorium Endivia



As a result of the growing taste for wholesome salads Endive has

considerably advanced in public esteem. The flavour of well-blanched

Endive suits most palates that have had experience of salads, and of the

salutary properties of the plant we have a hint in its close relation to

the Chicory.



The selection of sorts is a question of importance, because the handsome

curled varieties that make the best appearance on the table, and might

be regarded as ornaments if they were not edible, are the very finest

for salads, being tender, with a fresh nutty flavour. The broad-leaved

sorts are not so well adapted for salads as for stews, and they take the

place of Lettuces when the latter are not available for soups and

ragouts. However, when an emergency occurs, the curled varieties will be

found suitable for cooking, and the broad-leaved for salading, and

therefore there need be no waste where one sort predominates.



Soil.--A difficulty common to Endive culture may be got over in the

way advised for Celeriac. The plant requires a light, dry, sandy soil;

and a portion, at least, of the crop is expected to stand through the

winter. Thus on a heavy soil there is a prospect of failure in respect

of the late crop, but that is obviated by adopting a made bed--one of

smallish dimensions being sufficient to accommodate a large stock of

plants. Select an open spot, make a foundation of any hard rubbish that

is at hand, and on this put one to two feet of sandy soil. This will

form a raised bed of a kind exactly suited to the plant, and will cost

but little as compared with its ultimate value. If regularly dressed

with manure, and otherwise well managed, the bed will supply Endive in

winter and other salads in summer, or it may be cropped with Dwarf

Beans, which can be removed in August to make way for the usual planting

of Endive. Where the soil is naturally light and dry no such preparation

is needed, but Endive does not come to perfection without food, and

therefore the soil should be rich and deeply dug.



Sowing and Transplanting.--The seed may be sown as early as March, in

a moderate heat, but the latter part of April is early enough for most

purposes, and the main sowings are made in June. Later sowings may

follow in July and August. But the June sowing is the most important, as

by a little careful management it will supply a few early heads and many

late ones. Sow in shallow drills six inches apart, and when the plants

are an inch high draw the most forward, and prick them out on a bed of

rich light soil in the same way as Celery, and with a little nursing

these will make a first plantation. The plants in the seed-bed should be

thinned to three inches, and must have water in dry weather. All the

thinnings should be pricked out in the first instance to make them

strong for planting, but the last lot may go direct to the beds to

finish.



The final planting must be on rich, light, dry soil, and water given to

encourage growth. The distance for the curled varieties is a foot each

way, and for the broad-leaved fifteen inches. In taking the last lot

from the seed-bed, a crop should be left untouched to mature at twelve

to fifteen inches apart. These plants will give a first and most

excellent supply if carefully blanched.



If more convenient, seed may be sown where the crop is intended to

stand, the plants being thinned to the distances already given.



The blanching is an important business, and is variously performed.

The customary mode is to tie the leaves together in the manner usual

with Lettuce and mould them up. This method answers perfectly, except in

wet seasons, when, if the plants stand for some time, the outer leaves

begin to rot, and the decay proceeds inwards, to the deterioration or

destruction of the plant. A clean and effective process is to cover the

heart of the plant with a flower-pot. The hole is darkened with part of

a tile or slate, on which should be laid a piece of turf or a handful of

mould. A plate or clean tile placed over the centre of the plant will

also blanch Endives satisfactorily in autumn. For winter supplies, the

plants may be lifted as wanted and placed in boxes or pots of soil,

these being covered with other boxes or pots to exclude light. A

Mushroom-house, cellar, or under a greenhouse stage, will serve for

storing the lifted plants. The blanching must be carried on in such a

way as to insure a succession without a glut at any time, for when

sufficiently blanched Endive should be used, or decay will soon set in.