68 



IklSH GARDENING. 



majority is not sufficiently appreciated for table 

 use, it is not exacting in its requisements, and 

 in a dry summer or on light dry soils does not 

 run to seed so readily as do garden Turnips. 

 The edible portion is the swollen stem and is 

 cooked in exactly the same manner as Turnips. 

 It is believed to be a hybrid between some 

 form of Cabbage and the Turnip, and certainly 

 the flavour is somewhere midway between the 

 two. It can be sown in drills and thinned out 

 like Turnips, or it can be sown in seed beds and 

 transplanted like Cabbages, the latter is the 

 better method. Sow in the latter end of March 

 and plant out 

 when large 

 enough 12 in- 

 ches apart 

 each way for 

 summer use. 

 Seed may be 

 sown again in 

 July and 

 planted when 

 large enough 

 for autumn 

 and winter 

 use. The 

 young ten- 

 der leaves of 

 Khol Rabi 

 can also be 

 cooked and 

 served in the 

 same manner 

 as Spinach. 

 Some people 

 cook both the 

 stem an d 

 leaves and 

 use them as 

 two distinct 

 vegetables, so that in these times of enforced 

 economy here is an opportunity of growing 

 an economical vegetable. W D E 



Brussels Sprouts 



This is one of the hardiest and most proliflc of 

 winter vegetables, yielding over a long j)eriod 

 large quantities of " greens." 



The past winter has been one of the worst 

 for many years as far as green vegetables are 

 concerned, and with the exception of Savoys 

 and Sprouts, little else has been seen in the 

 shops. 



March and April, the chief seed sowing 

 months, Were so cold and wet that it was well 



Photo by] 



nigh impossible to get a decent seed bed or a 

 decent clay to sow. Experienced groAvers know 

 that Sprouts require a long season to develop 

 properly, and, consequently, endeavour to have 

 the outside sowing in by the last week in March. 

 Many growlers, hoA^ever, to get a longer season, 

 sow in frames towards the end of February or 

 early in March, subsequently pricking out the 

 seedlings into a suitable nursery bed. 



No doubt many resorted to the latter course 

 this year owing to the wet, cold condition of 

 the soil outside. Market growers who make 

 a practice of raising plants for sale have doubt- 

 less made 

 provision 

 this year for 

 a largely in- 

 creased de- 

 mand from 

 Allotment 

 Holders who 

 have not the 

 necessa r y 

 experience 

 or facilities 

 for raising 

 their own 

 plants. 



Spro u t s 

 flouri sh in 

 soil of good 

 quality, but 

 too m u c h 

 rich manure 

 is a mistake, 

 inducing as 

 it does rank 

 soft growth, 

 ill-suited to 

 stand the 

 frost and 

 " Sprouts " 

 grow loose 



PlililULA WINTERI AT GlASNEVIN. 



[R. M. PuUocIc 



snow of winter, and, also, the 

 which are to form the crop 

 and flabby as opjDOsed to the round firm 

 produce of the moderately manured ground. 

 Allotment Holders will be well advised to 

 invest in a few dozen plants of '' Sprouts " 

 this month, and if, as has been constantly 

 advised in Irish Gardening, early Potatoes 

 have been planted at least 2 feet or more 

 between the rows and 1 foot between the 

 " sets," then it is possible to intercrop by 

 planting Sprouts between the row^s, still 

 leaving space for moulding the Potatoes. This 

 plan, which may be availed of when the Allot- 

 ment is very small, is not always an imqualified 

 success, and is, of course, not possible when 

 the Potatoes are grown on ridges or " lazy 



