CHICORY CULTURE.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2198, 12 March 1881, Page 3

CHICORY CULTURE.

fCoMPXXBD rou tub “ Weexiy Prbss.”] Tho cultivation of chicory is a branch of agriculture to which wo invite the attention of tho farmers of Canterbury, feeling assured that it might be made a staple article of production, yielding profitable results to the grower, with the certainty of finding a ready market alike in New Zealand and Australia.

Although not unknown in Canterbury, chicory is by no moans so generally cultivated as its importance demands, we believe the only places where it is now grown in Canterbury being at the well known chicory farm of Messrs Trent Bros., Templeton, and also on * much smaller scale at St. Albans. Some of our readers will perhaps ask, “ What is chicory ?” In reply we will endeavor to give •omo particulars of its nature and habits. Chicory is a perennial plant, found wild in

many parts of England and in various 1 countries of Europe. It has a root similar in shape to the parsnip or white carrot, but smaller, growing to a depth of from Ift to 2ft in the ground. It grows in the form of a lettuce, bearing after the first year blue flowers on a rough leafy stem. It has been much cultivated on the continent as an herbage and J pasturage plant, and is also much used as salad. In Flanders and Germany the roots ’ are in great request as a substitute for coffee. ' It was introduced into field culture in Eng- ! land in 1780, being grown for sheep feed, and found very profitable for that purpose, 1 as it will flourish upon almost any L kind of land, and probably keep more sheep per acre during the early summer ' months than any other kind of herbage plant. It has been found abundantly profitable upon 1 poor, sandy land ; it will also thrive on peat soil, lasting for seven or eight years, yielding several cuttings each year, though the full crop is not obtained till the second year. For a fodder or herbage crop, the seed should be drilled, in well cleaned and pulverised soil, during the early part of September, about 41bs of seed to the acre being used. When

the plants are high enough they should hi hoed out, after the usual method in turnij culture. One thing is indispensable, the laud must bo kept clean, especially the first year After that, ordinary attention will suffice, and the crop will continue luxuriant and profitable for many years. It will never pay if allowed to stand too thick together or attain perfection The stem is branched, and clothed with leaves up to its very top, so that to be con. fined for room would he prejudicial to th« healthy development of the plant, as the roots would grow thin and tapering, while il allowed full scope in good soil, the roots attain a good size, and are sliced for cattle food in the same manner as turnips or mangold, but it pays better to mow as a crop. This should be done just when the flowerbuds appear; it has then attained its greatest perfection. It may then be out off near the ground, and will be eaten by all kinds of stock with the greatest relish and benefit ; and as an article of growth for oowkeepers it is invaluable. But it is as a substitute for, or for use in blending with, coffee it will pay best in Now Zealand. As regards preparation of the land for the reception of the seed, the same method as adopted for cultivating the carrot will apply also to chicory, and, in cultivating it as a root crop, deep ploughing is recommended, and the surface of the ground must bo well worked. When cultivating for the root the seed should not bo sown till the beginning of November, as if sown too soon it will run to seed, and the seed should be drilled in rows of from nine to twelve inches apart, an equal space being allowed between each plant in the rows, as it is mistaken economy to imagine that if left closer together a larger crop will result; indeed, the greater the distance apart the larger the roots will grow. The young plants are a long time coming up—say, from five to six weeks, —and care must ho taken that the top of the ground does not get overrun with fast growing weeds, that will check the growth of and choke the young plants. The crop having been duly cared for during its growth will require lifting in the late autumn—say the latter end of April or beginning of May—this is best accomplished by means of digging forks, about 14in in length, and in our comparatively mild climate might be extended far on into the winter months. As a matter of convenience the roots may be stored in pits (as potatoes are stored), but generally they are washed and made clean, then cut into small slices of a uniform size by a turnip cutter or by hand, being afterwards dried in a kiln. This process wastes the chicory 75 or 80 per cent. It is then marketable, and may be sold to the steam coffee mill proprietors and others, who roast and grind it as they do coffee. The uses of the root are also extended to the adulteration of tobacco and porter. It may be considered healthful, as many medical men in Europe prescribe it for a morning beverage. But little chicory seed is grown in England, the greater portion being raised in Germany, and exported, mostly from Hamburg, at a cost of about 2s fid per lb.