Sow seed in the open ground early in spring as for parsnips, thinning to stand three inches apart in the rows and making the rows fifteen inches apart. Dig the roots in the fall and store in a dark cellar where the temperature can be controlled. Cut the leaves off a little above the root crown and place them in horizontal layers with the crowns outward covering each layer, excepting the tip of the crown, with earth. Each layer should be a little narrower than the one beneath so that they form a sloping bank. It is the tender white leaves produced in the dark that are used for salad. Another form of Chicory, the Large Rooted, is used to mix with or substitute for coffee, being sliced, dried, roasted and ground.
Witloof Chicory, or French Endive as it is sold by dealers in fancy fruits and vegetables, is sown in June in drills a foot apart and cultivated until frost, when the plants should be taken up and trimmed to an inch and a half from the neck and replaced upright in trenches about sixteen inches deep, setting the plants about an inch and a half apart. The trench is then filled in with soil and covered with manure to hasten growth. The tender, white tops will be ready for use in about a month and are eaten raw, like celery, used as a salad or cooked.
CELERIAC
Or turnip-rooted celery is grown for its bulbous root, which has a distinct celery flavor and in gardens where celery will not succeed it makes a very good substitute. It is used, cooked, either as a salad or as a vegetable. It is cultivated much as celery is, only it does not require the banking so necessary with that plant. It may, however, be blanched and is said to be very fine that way. Delicatesse is a fine sort with perfectly smooth root, free from side rootlets, pure white, tender and excellent in quality. Giant Prague is another fine sort. Earliest of All is ready for use in June and is a good sort.
CHERVILLE
Resembles parsley and is used for garnishing and for seasoning. Cultivate like parsley, making the rows a foot apart and thin to six inches.
COLLARDS
Grown at the south as greens and as a substitute for cabbage. Plant seed in rows, thinning or transplanting to a foot apart in the row. It is improved by a touch of frost.
CORN SALAD