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PKOFITABLE GAKDENISG. 



CHAPTER XV. — CULTURE OE SEA-KALE. 



The routine culture of asparagus, 

 given in the last cliapter, should be 

 read over by tbose who intend to be- 

 gin this season in the culture of sea- 

 kale, because, in all the leading fea- 

 tures of habit and management, these 

 two excellent esculents very closely 

 agree. As there stated, in the case 

 of asparagus, so in the formation of a 

 bed of sea-kale, the best plants are 

 obtained from seed. Nevertheless, 

 one-year old plants, put in at the end 

 of March, or even cut sets of the 

 crowns of roots, make good planta- 

 tions, if properly managed from the 

 first. 



Choose for sea-kale the most 

 open and generous soil you have. 

 Trench it two spits deep, and turn in 

 a liberal allowance of manure. Then 

 mark out the plot into four-feet beds, 

 with two feet alleys between, and 

 strew over the beds a thin surfacing 

 of salt. Let it remain from this time 

 to the last week in March. Then hoe 

 the beds rough, and put down the 

 line, and sow the seeds in patches 

 two feet apart each way. About six 

 seeds should be put in each clump, in 

 a circle of six inches diameter, and 

 the seeds should be sown two inches 

 deep. Instead of drawing drills, I 

 measure along the line, and put in a 

 stick where each clump is to be. 

 With a small hand-dibber I make the 

 holes round this stick, and drop into 

 each hole a single seed. Instead of 

 filling up each hole, I leave all open 

 till the plot is sown, and then go over 

 the piece and strew wood ashes in a 

 little mound over each clump, which, 

 of course, fills up the holes at the 

 same time. The first rain that fol- 

 lows washes the potash out of the 

 dressing into the soil, and the seed- 

 lings come up iu a circle of charcoal, 

 and grow with vigour from the first. 

 In the course of time the plants begin 

 to look crowded, and the bed, by that 

 time, is sure to be looking weedy. I 

 use the hoe to clear away the weeds, 

 and then draw at least half the plants, 

 so as to leave three in each clump, 

 and those the strongest, just as we 

 thin mangolds or turnips. 



During the summer, liberal water- 

 ings are given in dry weather ; and 

 after rains, while the ground is still 

 wet and warm, a good soaking with 

 house-sewage is administered. The 

 hoe must be used occasionally, even 

 if weeds do not give occasion for it, 

 to keep the surface open between the 

 rows, and promote a vigorous action 

 during the growing season. Wood 

 ashes and salt make a capital mixture 

 to spread thinly on the surface be- 

 tween the plants, but not to touch 

 them, after ,each of these hoeings. 

 While trimmings of hedges and prim- 

 ings of trees and bushes are about, is 

 a good time to secure, by burning, a 

 stock of material for the purpose. 

 Burn all your hard rubbish, and use 

 couch grass, turf, and other close ma- 

 terial to bank up the fire, and prevent 

 a wasting flame, and store away the 

 product in a bin in the potting-shed. 

 Soot is also an excellent top-dressing, 

 and is increased in value if mixed 

 with salt. To use this mixture to full 

 advantage, let the rule be "little and 

 often." A thin sprinkling, when rains 

 are about to set in, will all be carried, 

 in a diluted form, to the roots ; but a 

 heavy application may do as much 

 harm as good by over-stimulation. 

 The same season as for sowing must 

 be observed when a plantation is made 

 from plants —that is, from the end of 

 March to the middle of April. Get 

 strong one-year old plants in prefer- 

 ence to the three-year old, which 

 nurserymen generally recommend. 

 As soon as they come to hand, unpack 

 them, and lay them together in a wet 

 mat, and plant at the first oppor- 

 tunity. The ground must be prepared 

 as for a seed-bed, and the plants must 

 be set in two-feet rows, three plants 

 together in a patch, and the patches 

 two feet apart. A poor man, who 

 cannot afford to purchase stock suffi- 

 cient for his piece, may cut the crowns 

 into sets, and dibble them in in threes 

 triangularly. They start better if the 

 holes, made with a dibber, are first 

 half filled with sand or fine charrings, 

 and the clumps then slightly heaped 

 over with the same material, which 



