148 



IRISH GARDENING. 



OCTOBER 



Relatively few plants have this power retained by their 

 roots, but plums and hawthorns, dandelions and horse- 

 radish are other familiar examples of the same tendency. 

 This peculiarity of the root is taken advantage of in 

 propajjfating^ sea kale. Pieces of the roots four to six 

 inches longf are cut off and planted in March. If plants 

 arc lifted for forcing in the autumn the roots may then 

 be cut off and kept in dry sand or earth until the plant- 

 ing season. In preparing these root cuttings it is usual 

 to make the top end level and the lower end sloping. 

 The cut end will soon " callus" — that is, a thickish ring 01 

 vigorous cellular tissue will arise and tend to spread 

 itself over the surface of the wound. When the cuttings 

 are planted buds will freely start fiom the upper callus 

 and roots emerge from the lower callus. 



The preparation of the ground is an important matter. 

 The sea k.ale requires a soil fi'eely supplied with air and 

 containing a fair amount of organic matter, therefore 

 a light soil that has been well dug and autumn-manured 

 with farmyard manure answers best. If the only soil 

 available inclines to be heavy, then it must be well 

 drained, deeply dug, and thoroughly manured some- 

 time previous to planting. .A bright, sunny position will 

 favour vigorous growth and development of foliage, as 

 one must remember that the \alue of the "crowns" to 

 be afterwards used for forcing will almost entirely 

 depend upon the amount of starch, &c. , maimfacturcd by 

 the leaves and transferred to the crown structures, to 

 be stored therein for the future use of the yoimg shoots. 

 As we have already said, the planting is done in March. 

 The cuttings are usually arranged in rows at a distance 

 of four feet apart. The sets may be inserted in groups 

 of three (placed in the form of a triangle), leaving a 

 space of five or six inches between the groups. Plant 

 very firmly (a dibble may be used), sinking the cutting 

 so as to leave its top about an inch or so below the level 

 of the soil. A ring of sifted ashes placed round each 

 group of cuttings will be helpful ; the buds will soon 

 push through. Each cutting will produce several buds, 

 but it will be wise, in order to secure the best i^esults, to 

 pinch off all but one. 



The after-treatment will mainly consist in securing 

 a proper water supply. This will entail frequent hoc- 

 ings between the rows, so as to keep the surface of the 

 soil in a fine powdery condition, and thus prevent loss of 

 water by evaporation from the soil surface. If this is 

 properly done no trouble with weeds will arise, as they 

 will have no chance at all of growing. If there is still 

 any fear of loss by evaporation, mulching with farm- 

 yard manure or leaf-compost may be resorted to. In 

 veiy dry seasons it may be even necessaiy to water the 

 plants. The soil must on no account be allowed to get 

 too dry. Whether any artificial manuring would be 

 beneficial or not during the season will of course depend 

 upon the richness of the soil, and this is a question that 

 must be settled on the spot, by watching the progress 

 of the crop. Any flower-stems that appear ought to be 

 removed at once. 



By October, growth will be over, and tin- first frosts 

 will be followed by flagging and decay of the foliage. 

 When the leaves are removed there is left a rooted 

 crown, the size and weight of which is directly pro- 

 portional to the activity of the foliage during the past 

 growing season. If the plants have been sufficiently 



supplied with room to grow — moisture, food and sun- 

 light -the crowns will be large and well filled with 

 reserve food ; if anyone of these conditions was lacking 

 its retarding influence will be manifested in the results. 

 .\t this time, too, the crowns are provided with young 

 or embr}'0 leaves representing next year's foliage. 



The object of forcing is to induce these young leaves 

 to grow rapidly and to produce succulent stalks rather 

 than large green blades. This can be done, because 

 there is now food enough stored away in the crown to 

 feed the leaves during the whole period of forcing. It 

 is simply a matter of transporting the stored starch, &c. , 

 to the young shoots, to be there transformed into sappy 

 leaf-stalk structures. To accelerate the growth of the 

 stalk and to retard the development of the blade the 

 plants must be grown in the dark, as light has, of course, 

 the contrary effect. There is no trouble with w.ilering, 

 as under the conditions of forcing very little water is 

 lost by the plant. 



Starling with good crowns by end of October, forcing 

 may be commenced during November. There are 

 different ways of forcing sea kale so as to secure 

 supplies at different times, but the chief determining 

 factor (n this relation is heat. Willi a temperature of 

 about 50° to 55° Fah. good stalks eught to be secured in 

 from four to six weeks. Perhaps the commonest plan is, 

 first, to clear the ground of all leaves, &c. , then each 

 group of crowns is covered with H mound of ashes, and 

 this in turn covered with a '* sea kale pot." To apply 

 the necessary heat the pot is surrounded by a heap of 

 le;i.ves or other organic rubbish packed firmly round so 

 as to exclude light. During the decaying process thiit 

 ensues in the heap, heat will be given off, but the tem- 

 perature should on no account be allowed ever to 

 e.xceed 60° Fah. By covering only a few plants at a 

 time the season of supply may be considerably pro- 

 longed. When the stalks are nearly ready for use 

 admit light to the tips - the object is to give them that 

 purplish tint that is so much appreciated. .Although 

 specially made pots for blanching are very handy, yet 

 old boxes, barrels, &c., may be used in small gardens. 

 When cutting the stalks, if they are not to be used 

 immediately, a small portion of the solid crown should 

 be removed with them. These, if placed in a vessel 

 with a little water, will keep fresh and crisp for some 

 time. After the crop is lifted the pots and ferment- 

 ing material should be removed off the ground, the 

 crowns re-covered with ashes, and the manure spread 

 at once over the surface and forked into the soil. 



.Another way of forcing and blanching is to simply 

 cover the rows of crowns with a ridge of soil a foot deep, 

 so that when the tips of the shoots just break through 

 the soil, the latter is cleared away, the crop removed, 

 and the soil treated as described above ; of course in 

 this case the crop will be later, as no artificial heat is 

 supplied. 



.A still other way may be adopted to give limited 

 iLiid reguhir supplies for pri\'ate use. Plants ma\' be 

 lifted at intervals from November onwards, tlie roots 

 removed to supply fresh cuttings, and the crowns packed 

 with sand or dry soil in boxes or barrels, light excluded, 

 and the whole kept in a suitable, warm place until the 

 stalks are ready to cut. Crowns, it is well to remember, 

 that have been strongly forced are usually so weakened 



