Part 14

=Witloef=, or Brussels chicory, is grown in much the same way, except that the plants should stand six inches apart in the rows as they grow. From November onwards witloef may be blanched, and the blanching is done in the following fashion: A deep trench is got out as for celery, though no manure is put in it, the plants are lifted and trimmed to within an inch of the crowns, and are then replanted in this trench about two inches apart, and the crowns eight inches from the level of the garden. The earth is then returned, filling the trench in level; over the trench a heap of hot manure three feet deep is piled, and the heads will be ready to dig in about three weeks, or rather longer.

=Purée of Chicory.=--Cut off the outside leaves and trim three or four heads of chicory, wash the inside of the leaves well, drain, cook them in boiling salted water, put them on a sieve and pour cold water on them. Press out all the water and then chop them finely. Season one and a half ounces of butter with salt and pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Stir the chicory and butter over a quick fire with a wooden spoon, until they are reduced to a purée. Add two or three tablespoonfuls of cream sauce and a little castor sugar. Any good sauce can be added to this after it has been dished up with fried bread. Chicory is good in salads with lettuce and other vegetables.

CHIVES (Allium Schœnoprasum. Liliaceæ).

This perennial plant is best propagated by dividing old roots in spring, the plants may be put a foot apart, or may form a continuous edging to a kitchen-garden path.

The leaves are used as flavouring for soups, or instead of onions in salads.

CLARY (Salvia Sclarea. Labiatæ).

This is best treated as a biennial. Sow in April in drills eighteen inches apart, and thin to the same distance in the rows. Keep the Dutch hoe going through dry weather, and do not let the plants flag for want of water.

The leaves are used as a flavouring for soups, &c. They should be gathered in August, dried, rubbed through a sieve, and stored in bottles for use.

CORIANDER (Coriandrum sativum. Umbelliferæ).

A sunny position should be selected, and the seed sown during April in shallow drills twelve inches apart; thin the plants out to six inches.

The seeds are harvested in August, dried, and stored in bottles. They are used as flavouring.

CORN SALAD (Valerianella olitoria. Valerianacæ).

This native plant is well worth growing as a basis for winter salads. It may be sown in any odd corner during August, the plants thinned to four inches, and used as wanted from November to March.

COUVE TRONCHUDA (see Cabbage).

CRESS (Lepidum sativum. Cruciferæ).

As soon as there is a mild hotbed available, or a corner in a house, from January onwards, make successive sowings of this about every ten days. Spread the seed on a garden mat, water well, and cut in ten days; this avoids grittiness. If sown on soil do not cover it, but simply press it down with the back of a dry spade. From March onwards it may be sown in the open as often as desired. In October again resort to cold frames, and later to heat.

AMERICAN CRESS (Erysimum præcox. Cruciferæ).

This biennial plant may be sown from March to September, and the plants thinned to six inches. It is easier in ordinary gardens than watercress, but greatly inferior to it in quality--being much coarser and hotter in flavour.

WATER-CRESS (Nasturtium officinale. Cruciferæ).

Not worth growing unless there be a natural supply of water available. If this be the case beds should be trenched and manured, and cuttings (or seedling plants) put out six inches apart, and water allowed to flow over the bed. Or the plants may be set by the margin of a stream or pond.

To raise from seed sow in a shallow trench. Keep watered, and admit water gradually as the plants grow.

It is used in salads, and as a garnishing with poultry and game.

=Cress Salad.=--Wash carefully any kind of cress or lettuce, and dry without bruising; put them in a salad bowl with a whole raw onion; shake over them a little very finely chopped chervil. Then put a pinch of salt and pepper in a tablespoon, fill the spoon with olive oil, stir very carefully with a fork till the salt and pepper are melted, pour over the cress, then add two tablespoonfuls of good salad oil, stir thoroughly, and add one tablespoonful of vinegar, remove the onion, and serve.

CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus. Ord. Cucurbitaceæ).

Though needing daily attention, the cucumber is well worth growing in the small garden if the gardener can give the necessary few minutes to its care morning and night.

Seed, both of a frame variety, such as “Telegraph,” and of a ridge variety suited to outdoor culture, should be sown in the hotbed in March. The seed should be sown in 3-inch pots, a single seed to a pot, well watered, and a sheet of glass laid over to keep the moisture in.

As the plants grow, they will soon need to be shifted into larger pots; they must be kept growing; warmth and moisture are essential. About the beginning of May the cucumbers must be planted out in the frame, one plant under each light. About four inches of earth should be laid on the surface of the hotbed, and the plants put out.

It is good practice to stop the top of the shoots when they are about eight inches long to induce the plants to throw back. Water should be given in abundance, and air must be admitted for some hours during the heat of the day. If the heat dies out of the hotbed too soon, the frame must be protected from cold by mats at night, until the spring sunshine is sufficiently strong to fill the frame with a store of warmth to last the night.