_Endive_ must be sown in successive crops in July and the early part of August, and this will produce “a sufficiency to last through the winter and early spring. If sown earlier it runs to seed the same year; but if early endive is required, a little white-curled variety is the best to sow. The ground should be light and rich on a dry subsoil”; when sufficiently grown, the plants should be thinned, and those taken out, transplanted at a distance of ten or twelve inches apart, and watered occasionally till they are well rooted. Endive is more easy to blanch if sowed in trenches than in level ground. In wet weather, blanching is best accomplished by putting a garden-pot over the plant; but, in summer, it is better to tie the leaves together and earth them half way up. The process will take from a week in dry weather to nearly three weeks in wet, and the plant must be taken up soon after it is finished, as after a few days it begins to decay. In severe frost the bed should be covered with straw litter.
_Chervil_ is sown in August and September, and can be used in the same autumn and through the winter; if successive crops are wanted, it may be sown any time between the end of February and August. It should be sown in shallow drills, and the plants left to grow as they come up. When the leaves are two or three inches high they are ready to be used, and if cut close, fresh leaves will shoot up in their place. _Lambs’ Lettuce_ is appreciated chiefly in the winter; it should be sown in August, and again in September to last through the winter and early spring. Dry fairly mellow soil will suit it, and it may be left to grow as it was sowed.
_Rocket._--“This is an agreeable addition to cresses and mustard, early in spring. It should be sown in a warm border in February, and during the next months if a succession is wanted. After the first rough leaf has appeared, thin out the plants.”[92] The _Purslanes_ are both tender annuals, Green Purslane (_Portulaca olerecea_) being rather hardier than Golden Purslane (_P. sativa_). They should be sowed on hot-beds in February or March; or in a warm border, they may be sowed in drills during fine weather in May. They should be left as they grow, and when the leaves are gathered they must be cut low, and then a fresh crop will appear. Purslane must be watered occasionally in very dry, hot weather.