Sept. 6—When we were walking around a garden on Route Père Robert one day in June, our attention was drawn to a mass of pale blue flowers in what had once been the vegetable garden. From a distance, the flower spikes looked like those of the common Chicory (Cichorium Intybus) which is often seen along hedges in England; but on closer inspection we found that the flowers were those of Endive (Cichorium Endiva). a very close relate plants had been allowed to run to sessd. display produced, although unintentional. was quite attractive and we thought at the time that the plants could be used with advantage in our flower borders. However, Endive is a salad and not a great favourite; many people find the leaves far too bitter for their taste. This bitterness is well marked in the leaves when the plants are grown naturally, but it can be considerably reduced by proper blanching. It is a Winter crop here, the plants run ed as soon as the warm weather comes but in England it is used at all seasons of the year except Summer. Seed sown at the present time should give us a supply for the table during the Winter provided a well manured plot of land is available: the plants like plenty of moisture during the growing season and a rich soil helps them to grow crisp and welLflavoured leaves. The green curled "varieties are our special favourites; these produce finely laminated leaves and as the plants are Smaller than the broad-leaved varieties. more may be planted ina bed. Blanching com-melices as soon as the centre of the plants have'become fairly thick; this is generally carried. out by tying the haves together and covering the plants with inverted flower pots. sufficient for two or three days being treated at one time, In England plants are and placed close te-gether in a dark frame: this is a good practice for it is possible to/keep the plants drier at blanching time. The best of the broad-leaved varied ties is the improved "Deep Heart" Batavian. this grows to a large size. but we prefer the green and moss-curled varieties.—W-J.k.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.