The Growing of Chicory

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 69, Issue 6, 15 December 1944, Page 581

The Growing of Chicory

By

J. G. RICHARDS,

Assistant Instructor in Agriculture, Balclutha.

One important ingredient in the manufacture of coffee is chicory and it is not widely known that chicory is grown for this purpose in New Zealand. The annual acreage grown is not large, over the past 40 years never exceeding 100 acres. Chicory has been grown on the island of Inch Clutha in South Otago for upwards of 40 years and -in recent years areas have been grown in the environs of Christchurch. On Inch Clutha one farm has specialised in the growing of this crop and there is situated on this farm, which is known locally as “the Chicory Farm,” a plant for the drying of the chicory roots. Other farms adjacent to the chicory farm supply occasional acreages on contract when required.

CHICORY (Cichorium intybus) is a perennial plant possessing a taproot which under ideal conditions will grow in length up to 2ft. 6in. The root is white in colour and somewhat resembles that of the parsnip except that the skin is smooth and not indented. The leaves are a darker green than those of the common dock, but otherwise they are very similar to it. The mature plant, which incidentally is not usually allowed to seed, has a seed stalk up to 3ft. high, which bears one or more pale blue rosette flowers just over an inch in diameter. In the growing stage the leaves are palatable and nutritious, and prior to the harvesting of the roots these leaves are fed off with sheep. A number of years ago it was customary to include a few ounces of chicory in pasture mixtures, but on account of the relatively low bulk of feed produced it has lost its place as a pasture plant. .

Soil Requirements As with other crops a high yield per acre is aimed at and this is possible only when roots of good length are grown. The soil requirements for chicory should be such. that the roots have every chance for downward growth. Soils suitable for chicory must, of necessity, be deep, possessing good drainage, be easily worked, and fairly high in fertility, for chicory is a gross feeder. The rich alluvial-soil of the Inch Clutha Island measures up well to these requirements.

Place in Rotation Although customary to sow chicory after swedes successful crops have, however, been grown after wheat, oats, or potatoes. Sowing after lea is not favoured, the presence of undecayed turf causing difficulty in obtaining the desired fine and firm seed-bed. If, however, skim ploughing of grass is carried out in the autumn and the field winter fallowed, followed by deep ploughing up to 9 or lOin. in AugustSeptember, a satisfactory seed-bed can be obtained. The adoption of this method, however, leads to the field being idle for 5-6 months, and is, therefore, not favoured. In the case of swede ground it is aimed to have the swedes fed off by early 'August, when it is double disced and then ploughed to a depth of Bin. or even greater. Subsequent cultivation with discs, harrows, and the roller will lead to a seed-bed of desirable fineness and firmness and free from weeds being obtained for sowing about mid-October. Where stubble ground is used it is customary to skim plough in the autumn and leave fallow over ' i e winter, but here again the question o± idleness of the field, as in the case of lea, is involved. Time of Sowing , Sowing generally commences about mid-October, and is completed by the

end of the month. Seed at the rate of 2-2Jlb. per acre is sown on ridges 22in. apart through a slightly modified mangold box. Up to 3|cwt. of reverted superphosphate is customarily sown. Good yields of chicory are obtainable only if first-class growing conditions are present in the early stages of the plant’s life, and one factor which can make or mar the crop is the absence or presence of weeds in these early stages. The suppression of weeds at this juncture is of prime importance if high , yields are to be envisaged. Intercultivation A double scuffling when the plants are just visible in the rows severely checks weed growth and assists materially in the conservation of soil

moisture. This scuffling should suffice until the plants have attained the size ' of from 3 to 4in. when they are again intercultivated. Scuffling is repeated periodically until the plants meet across the ridges. For ideal root development the desired distance be-, tween individual plants is 2-jin. When plants become clearly recognisable in the ridges it is customary to pass up and down the rows with the hand hoe removing any clumps of plants which may be present, and those plants not in the direct line of the drill. Long, even bulbs are the aim of the producer and these are best obtainable if the plants in the rows are so placed that root development is downwards rather than sideways. With the spacing of the plants to 2Jin. apart and confining them to the direct line of

the drill conditions most favourable to the production of the ideal bulb are provided. Harvest . • ' Crops which have been sown from mid- to end October are generally mature and ready for harvest towards the end of May. At harvest time the foliage of the plants is anything up to 18in. in height, and the removal of this foliage growth is necessary before the actual lifting of the bulbs can be undertaken. As previously mentioned chicory leaves are quite palatable to stock and the removal of the top growth of a crop is generally done by turning sheep on to the area. The feeding off is done in breaks, preferably using failing-mouth ewes, which do less damage to the bulb itself. Once the ewes have been placed on the break they can remain there until that particular break is fed off, for there are no attendant risks with the sudden change of feed as in the case of other crops such as rape. With the removal of the tops by sheep the lifting of the bulbs from the ridges is undertaken by means of the plough, there being two distinct operations. An ordinary swing plough is used for the first operation, which is not complex in nature. All that is done

is that the sides of the ridges are ploughed off into the furrow, leaving the centre of the ridges. The diagrammatic transverse section shows what actually takes place. On removing the sides of the ridges the actual lifting of the bulbs takes place, and the plough used is an ordinary swing plough from which the mould-board has been removed. The plough has been slightly altered so as to allow as great a depth as possible to be obtained. The accompanying photographs show the modified swing plough used. To plough out the bulbs the plough is drawn along the direct line of the ridge. The action of the

plough in this operation is to ease the bulbs to the surface of the ground. With the bulbs now exposed on the ground surface they are then thrown into rows, the product of each 10 ridges being placed into one row. Before being thrown into these rows bulbs are gently tapped together to remove any adhering soil. The bulbs remain in these rows awaiting removal to the factory. It is customary to remove the bulbs from the field within 10-14 days after lifting. Frost has no serious effect on the roots, and it is considered safe even if the bulbs have to remain in the field for upwards, of a month. By,allowing the bulbs to be freely ex-

posed to the weather for some time they are relatively clean and free from soil when hand thrown into drays for cartage to the factory. Yields An excellent yield is regarded as being from 15-16 tons per acre, the average yield, however, being in the vicinity of from 10 to 11 tons. The roots are roughly 75 per cent, moisture. It requires, therefore, 4 tons of green roots to yield 1 ton of dried material suitable for grinding.