Endive is a summer and fall crop, thriving at a time when it is not easy to grow lettuce to perfection.[7] It is, therefore, a good addition to lettuce, and its culture is largely the same, though endive takes longer to mature than lettuce does. Endive matures under proper care about fifty days after the seeds are sown. If seeds are sown in June the plants will be fit for table use in August or September. Endive requires about the same sort of soil as lettuce, the same tillage and the same general treatment. The plants should stand about a foot apart each way to make cultivation easier. It is sometimes sown in cold-frames, but just as often in the open field, and successive sowings will give successive crops, but that which gets its start during hot weather is not satisfactory. The inside leaves of the crown are usually blanched by tying them together near the tops for two or three weeks before the plants are ready for market. The blanched sort brings a better price. The disadvantages of blanching are that the plants fade and decay quickly unless used at once, and if rain or damp weather follows the tying-up, there is great danger of decay while in the ground. So the plants must be examined occasionally to see that they are doing well. When endive is used as a pot-herb, as it sometimes is, it is better to pick the new young plants before they have time to head or can be blanched. The coarse, outer leaves of the plant are apt to be bitter and tough, so that only the leaves of the crown are used for salads. With all these crops you can see why nearness to market is so important—even though the land is higher priced. CHICORY. Chicory has various uses and is now quite largely grown in gardens. As a salad plant only the tender, blanched leaves of the crown are used. The outer, green leaves are often used for “greens,” like dandelion. Chicory is not a surface feeder like most salad plants, but is grown as a root crop the same as carrots or parsnips. The soil must be deep, that the roots may come to perfection by fall; cuttings of leaves may be made during the season. The roots may be left in the ground over the winter. Chicory is really a perennial, but under cultivation it is better to grow a new lot of plants each year. When wanted for winter use, the strong roots are taken up in the fall, and buried in a sloping direction in a pit or cellar, with the crown of the plant showing an inch or so above the sand or earth. The growing-place must be kept dark, and in a few weeks the small, prized leaves begin to show. When chicory plants are covered, crowns and all, with about two feet of manure, they develop heads resembling lettuce heads. The young, tender roots of chicory are eaten as beets or carrots are, while the dried root is extensively used in place of coffee. This accounts for the increased area devoted to chicory in this country of recent years; it is less injurious to the nerves than coffee.