Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/295

283 VEGETABLES.] HORTICULTURE 283 the back of a south wall, and when covered up for blanching they will endure a considerable amount of cold. There are two races of endives, the Curled (Chicorie frisie of the French), with crispy much-cut leaves, and the Batavian (Scarole of the French), with broad lettuce-like leaves. Some of the favourite sorts are - Curled: French Small Green Curled, early ; Large Green Curled ; Staghorn, for late crops ; and Curled Picpus. Batavian: Small Batavian, Round-leaved Batavian; Lettuce-leaved, early ; and Fraser s Broad-leaved Batavian, for late crops. 162. The Garlic, Allium sativum, a har- 1 v bulbous perennial, is propagated by separating the cloves of which the bulbs are composed, and planting them 2 to 3 inches deep in spring, at a few inches apart, in rows a foot asunder, in a light, rich, and rather dry soil, and in a warm situation. A few short rows will suffice in most cases, and, if required early, a small patch may also be planted about the end of October. After the leaves have ripened, the bulbs may be taken up, sun-dried, tied in bunches by the stalks, and hung up in a dry airy cool store-room till wanted. Garlic is used for flavouring. 163. The Gourds cultivated in gardens for their esculent produce are varieties of several species of Cucurbita, the most commonly used being the vegetable marrow and the pumpkin. The Vegetable Marrow, Cucurbita Pepo var., is the most important of the gourds used as an esculent, and furnishes in good seasons a very large supply for the table. The fruits are best when eaten quite young and not over-boiled, the flesh being then tender, and the flavour sweet and nutty. Vegetable marrows require a warm situation and a rich soil free from stagnant moisture. The} 7 do well on a rubbish or old-dung heap, or in a warm border on little hillocks made up with any fer menting material, to give them a slight warmth at starting. The seeds should be sown in a warm pit in April, and forwarded under glass, but in a very mild heat ; the plants must be shifted into larger pots, and be gradually hardened previous to being planted out, when the mild weather sets in in May or June. The use of hand glasses makes it possible to transplant earlier than would otherwise be advisable. The S3eds may be sown early in May in pots wilder a hand-glass, or towards the end of May in the open ground, if heat is not at command. The true vegetable marrow or succade gourd hears fruit of an oblong-elliptical shape, about 9 inches long, pale-greenish while young, with whitish flesh, and scarcely any in dication of ribs ; when mature it is of a pale yellow colour. There is a variety which is more oblong, grows to 15 or 18 inches, and has the surface slightly marked by irregular longitudinal obtuse ribs. The shoots may be allowed to run along the surface of the ground, or they may be trained against a wall or paling, or on trellises. As the gourds cross readily, care is necessary to keep any particular variety true. One of the best vegetable marrows is called Moore s Vegetable Cream. The Custard Marrow, one of the Patissons or Crown Gourds, bears a peculiar-looking flattened fruit with scolloped edges, which has a sweeter and less nutty flavour than the true marrow. The Pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima, grows to a very large size, some of the varieties, as the large yellow or Potiron jaunc, some times producing fruit over 200 lt&amp;gt; in weight. The flesh of this is yellow, the ripe fruit, in which state only it is used, being of a pale salaiony buff colour exteriorly. It will keep for some months in a dry airy place, and is used in soups or stews, or mashed like potatoes, or baked in pies. There are several varieties of this type. The cultivation of the pumpkin resembles that of the vegetable marrow, but it requires .abundance of space for its spreading vines. Many of the other gourds (of which some are very ornamental) produce edible fruits, but as some, notably the orange gourd and the bottle gourd, are cathartic and deleterious, they should not be indiscriminately eaten. 164. The Horseradish, Cochlearia Armoracia, or Armoracia rusticana, a hardy perennial, is cultivated for its long roots, or more properly underground rootstocks, which when scraped into shreds, or grated and made into a delicious sauce, are eaten with roast beef. Its properties are antiscorbutic. The horseradish requires a deep, rich, and rather moist sandy loam or alluvial soil, the object being to obtain long straight roots. One method of producing new plants is to plant the sets, consisting of the crowns of old roots, or of 1 or 2 inch lengths of the root itself, at the bottom of a trench 2i feet deep, the lower half of the soil being well manured ; only a single shoot should be retained, so as to produce one thick vigorous stick. The roots planted in spring are sometimes taken up in the winter following ; if left to grow another year they become very much thicker, though less tender. In digging the roots the soil should be thrown back so as to lay them bare. Those that spring from the set are cut off, and it is manured and left to grow up again the follow ing year. Before the ground becomes frost-bound, a supply should be dug up, and stored in damp sand for use during that emergency. 165. The Jerusalem Artichoke, Helianthus tuberostis, a hardy tuberous perennial, a .species of sunflower, derives its epithet Jerusalem from a corruption of the Italian Girasole, a sunflower, and its name of Artichoke from the resemblance in flavour which its tubers bear to that of the receptacles or &quot;bottoms&quot; of that plnnt. It is propagated by means of its tubers planted in the manner of potatoes, in rows 3 or 4 feet a-sunder, some time in February or March ; by the autumn the new tubers will be fit for use. As a matter of convenience, though the tubers themselves are hardy enough to bear the frosts of winter, they may be dug up about November, and stored in dryish sand. They should have a well- manured soil, and the stems should not be allowed to be too crowded, which is in great measure obviated by planting them annually. 166. The Kidney Bean includes what is commonly known as the Kidne French Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, and the Scarlet Runner, Phaseolus bean, multiflorus, both very productive vegetables of excellent quality. The Common Kidney Bean or French Bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is a tender annual, and should be grown in a rich light loamy soil and a warm sheltered situation. The soil should be well enriched with hotbed dung. The earliest crop may be sown by the end of March or beginning of April. If, however, the tem perature of the soil is below 45, the beans make but little pro gress. The main crops should be got in early in May ; and a later sowing may be made early in July. The earlier plantings may be sown in small pots, and put in frames or houses, until they can be safely planted out-of-doors. The earliest out-of-doors crop may be sheltered by means of thatched hurdles, placed sloping on bearers supported by posts. The seeds should be covered ] or 2 indies deep, the distance between the rows being about 2 feet, or for the dwarfest sorts 18 inches, and that between plants from 4 to 6 inches. The pods may be used as a green vegetable, in which case they should be gathered whilst they are so crisp as to be readily snapped in two when bent ; but when the dry seeds are to be used, the pods should be allowed to ripen. As the green pods are gathered others will i are allowed to remain, the formation of young ones will be greatly 1 checked. Forcing. The kidney bean may be easily forwarded in pots in a forcing-house, or in prepared soil in a heated pit. The bottom heat should range about 70, and the atmospheric temperature should show a minimum of 60, and a maximum of 70, running up to 80 by sun-heat. The seed should be sown three or four in a 10- inch pot, nearly filled with light turfy soil and leaf-mould, or decom posed cow dung, the stems being earthed up after the true leaves j are formed ; and they must be well syringed and watered daily. To keep down the red spider, the under side of the leaves should be thoroughly moistened by syringing early in the morning with water at 60; the house being then kept shut up till the air is raised to 75 or 80, both surfaces will, in consequence of condensation, become thoroughly wetted. When the plants come into flower, plenty of air must be admitted. Kidney beans may thus be obtained fit for use, in six weeks or two months from the time of sowing. It may therefore be desirable to sow some seed in August to succeed the crops in the open ground, and, for succes sion, in September and October ; for spring use sow in Januarv, February, and March. The early dwarf sorts are the best for forc ing, such as Fulmer s Early, Newington Wonder, Osbom s Forcing, Williams s Early Prolific, Syon House, and White Advancer. The varieties of French beans being numerous, we here add the names of some of the most desirable for general cultivation : Early : White Canterbury, Fulmer s Forcing, Minier s First Early, Osboru a Forcing, Sir Joseph Paxton, White Advancer. Second Early: Canadian Wonder, bears late; Negro Long-podded, bears late ; New Mammoth ]S egro, earlier than Canadian Wonder ; Xewingtou j Wonder ; Tale Dun ; Syon House ; Williams s Prolific, bears late. The Scarlet Runner Bean, Phaseolus mnltiflorus, differs from the j common French bean in being a perennial, and in having tuberous j roots, which, it may be stated, are narcotic and poisonous. These may be preserved through the winter in dryish earth in a frost-proof cellar, for an early crop the following season. The late Mr Cuthill mentions having found from experiment that plants raised from roots come into bearing just one month earlier than those raised from seed. The seeds of the runner beans should be sown in an open plot, the first sowing in May, another at the beginning of June, and a third about the middle of June. In the London market-gardens they are sown 8 to 12 inches apart, in 4 feet rows if the soil is good. The twining tops are pinched or cut off when the plants are from 2 to 2| feet high, to save the expense of stak ing. It is better, however, in private gardens to have the rows standing separately, and to support the plants by stakes 6 or 7 feet high and about a foot apart, the tops of the stakes being crossed about one-third down. If the weather is dry when the pods are forming abundantly, plenty of tepid watir should be supplied to the plants. In training the shoots to their supports, they should be twined from right to left, contrary to the course of the sun, or they will not lay hold. The ordinary Scarlet Runner is most commonly grown, but there is a white- flowered variety which has also white seeds ; this is very prolific and of excellent quality, and is now much grown for market. Another variety culled Painted Lady, with the flowers red and white, is very ornamental, but not so productive. Carter s Champion is a large-podded productive variety. 167. The Kohl llabi, or Turnip Cabbage, Brassica oleracea caulo-
 * continue to be formed in abundance ; but if old seed-forming pods