CULTURE OF SEA KALE. 



celery; and as soon as these shoots get to be from four to six inches long, the cutting of 

 the bed for use may commence. The plants will continue to push into the material which 

 covers them, and it is whilst they are so doing that they are in perfection for the table. 



Of course the time from which the cutting commences in the ordinary mode of culture 

 above detailed, will depend upon the greater or less severity of the weather after the bed 

 is covered over; but if it is wished to bring the bed into bearing at an earlier date, that 

 can readilj' be done by a very simple method of forcing, which is not attended b}^ the 

 trouble and constant care and watching required in forcing most other vegetables. The 

 mode of forcing is this: When about to put on the winter covering, if it is intended to 

 force the bed, before doing so, take some large sized flower pots, or some old barrels cut 

 in half, or old boxes, and invert one over each hill of plants, then cover the bed as usual 

 over the pots or boxes. Whenever it is wished to bring the bed into bearing remove the 

 material around each hill, and in its place throw some fresh or half rotten stable manure 

 upon the boxes, and in a few daj'S the slight fermentation from it will heat the air within 

 them, and the plants will shoot very rapidly. 



In cutting the kale, care should be taken not to cut it too close to the crown of the plants, 

 or the product will be injured the following year. When the plants shoot up for bloom, the 

 cutting must be discontinued, and all the covering material, except the manure, removed 

 from the beds. The manure should then be just turned into the top of the bed, and a 

 little salt may with advantage be sprinkled over the beds, which should be kei)t clear from 

 weeds through the summer, and the growth of the plants encouraged by hoeing round 

 the hills occasionall}^, as upon their vigor depends the size of the roots, and the conse- 

 quent strength of growth of the shoots the following season. The beds should also be 

 dug over every year between the hills, but great care should be taken in so doing, not to 

 go too near the plants so as to disturb their position and the mass of roots immediately 

 around them. If stable manure is used as the covering material in winter in any con- 

 siderable quantity, that will keep up the condition of the beds in good bearing order, but 

 if other materials are used for the winter covering, then some manure should be put in 

 when the beds are dug over every year. 



Where expense and labor are not regarded, and it is wished to prolong the season for 

 this delicious vegetable, some of the large plants in a bed, two or three years old, may, 

 before winter sets in, be taken up with large balls of earth and placed close together in a 

 garden frame, which may then be covered over with boards, taking care to leave a space 

 of 12 or 14 inches between the crown of the roots and the top of the frame; then by heap- 

 ing fresh stable manure upon and round the frame, the process of forcing will be very 

 much accelerated. Another mode often adopted where a hot-house is kept, is to put a 

 hill of old plants in a box and force near the flues; of course covering the crown of the 

 plants with a flower pot to exclude the light in order to blanch the shoots as they push 

 forth. 



This vegetable is cooked and eaten exactly like asparagus. 



Americus. 



Neva-York. September 10, 1852. 



