which ten or a dozen seeds of cucumber are sown : when up, and on the appearance of their first rough leaf, they are thinned to four or five, in a patch; the hollow basin-like places are filled up, and the remainder left to chance and nature; but generally in this manner a large crop of fruit is produced, especially if the season is genial. Thus with little trouble and no expense, a sum of money may be realised, which would otherwise be lost. The author hopes this hint will be taken advantage of by the cottager. Where a crop of cucumbers is grown in the open air, it is a great advantage to cover the ridges two or three inches thick with clean straw or peas haulm, when the plants are grown sufficiently long this will keep the sun from parching the ground in hot dry weather, and prevent the blossoms and young fruit from being covered with soil during heavy rains. It also prevents the fruit from becoming spotted, when the autumn is wet and cold.

This plant receives its botanic appellation from its being a species of succory. The English name endive is derived from its specific denomination Indivia. The garden endive is a hardy annual, a native of China and Japan, and was introduced into England in the reign of Edward the Sixth, in 1548. It is cultivated in this country more as a winter and spring salad than for any other purpose. The French make a great consumption of it at their tables, eating it raw in salads, boiled in ragouts,

fried with roast meat, and as a pickle, esteeming it a wholesome esculent, which never disagrees with the stomach.

That early and excellent herbalist Gerard informs us that these herbs, and especially the white or blanched endive, eaten in salading or otherwise, comfort the weak and feeble stomach, and cool and refresh it when much heated.

The best varieties are but few, and, if kept distinct, they will be found quite sufficient for every culinary purpose to which they are adapted.

1. Broad-leaved, or Batavian Endive, is esteemed preferable for stews and soups. It is less hardy than the curled sort, and is mostly cultivated for use in the autumn. The true sort has a thick roundish leaf, wrinkled and turning inwards, so as to form a blanched centre.

2. Green-curled, is readily known by its beautiful lancinated leaves. It is a very fine, stocky, and hardy variety, and principally grown for the main autumn and winter crops. It is more used for salads than the first sort; and when cultivated by the market gardeners, it invariably meets with a ready sale and good price.

3. White-curled, is more delicate, but less hardy than the green, and is therefore only proper for an early crop its principal property is quickness in blanching.

Should any more or new sorts be wanted, they may be obtained on application to any respectable seedsman; but the author has always found the above named varieties superior, and sufficient for every use required.

Culture. The plants can only be raised from seed, which is sown in beds of rich mellow earth, and raked lightly in; the season of sowing it depends upon what time the plants may be wanted for use.

In order to have a very early crop, a sowing should be made about the third week in May: when sowing takes place too early, the plants are apt to run to seed; and when it is deferred too long, the plants do not attain a sufficient growth before they are set in the autumn.

The Green-curled variety is the best for the earlier sowings. From the time the seed is first sown, occasional slight waterings must be given when the weather is dry; the plants should be kept perfectly clear from weeds, and properly thinned out, so as not to draw up too fast and in a weakly state. When they are from four to six inches high, they are to be planted out in a rich well-prepared bed or border; the plants for the early crop in as open a situation as possible, and for the later the more southern and sheltered the better, in order that the plants may better stand the severity of the winter.

The ground being well prepared, the plants can be taken up from the seed-bed with their roots as perfect as possible; drills, the depth of a hoe, should be drawn across the bed or border (as the endive blanches with less trouble than if inserted on a level surface), and the plants, after having their roots and tops shortened, put in with a dibble twelve inches apart each way; and, with a good watering, they will soon strike root. Little more need be done till they have produced a new set

of leaves, when the ground should be hoed over, and the mould drawn out of the drills and levelled round the plants, which will accelerate their growth. It will also considerably forward them for blanching, which should be done as soon as they have expanded a sufficient quantity of leaves for tying: the sooner this is done the better, as they are very apt to start for seed at this early season, after which they are good for nothing.

For a successional and more permanent crop, seed of both the sorts should be sown towards the middle of June, and treated, with regard to water, &c., in the same way as was advised for the first sowing. The same method, if acted upon with all small seeds in the course of the summer, will be found of essential service. As soon as the plants attain a sufficient growth, proceed to transplant them exactly in the same manner as stated for the first; perhaps a few inches wider apart may be requisite; and, if more than one row is required, always set the plants in the triangular or quincunc method, as they will have considerably more room to grow, and be less liable to rot in the course of blanching. For this purpose, as the season advances, a dry day must be chosen, and as it will take about three weeks from the time of tying them, until they are properly blanched for use, a judgment may be formed as to how many it will be necessary to tie up at a time.

For a late winter and spring crop, a third sowing will be requisite about the latter end of July and beginning of August; and from this a sufficiency of plants may be raised for a continuance throughout

the winter. To the market gardener, who preserves them for spring use, they are of much benefit, as they always meet with a ready sale.

The seed for this crop should be sown on a rich spot of ground, rather thin, and fully commensurate to the number of plants required for immediate use; and the few hundred seedlings left after planting need not be thrown away, as they will be found useful hereafter. Should the weather at the time of sowing be hot and dry, shade and moisture will be necessary.

When it appears that the plants are of sufficient strength to plant out, it should be done immediately, either in beds, borders, or wherever there is a vacancy; as also under warm walls, pales, banks, and such places, where they are most likely to stand the weather. As the season continues mild and the plants are fit, they may be blanched in their places of growth; but the major part should be taken up and put under some sort of protection from our variable climate. Various are the methods recommended for this purpose; one of the most successful, particularly where there is not the conveniency of a shed, is by throwing up and forming a sloping bank of earth, two or three feet high, to face the south, on which to plant the endive; but let it be observed that the lighter and drier the mould, and the warmer the situation, the better.

For taking up the endive, let a dry day be chosen towards the end of October or beginning of November; gather the leaves together with the hand, and let them be planted entire on the warm side of the bank, beginning in a horizontal direction from