The Kitchen Garden. 91 



the Frencli le cTiou marin. It is easily cultivated, and we rec- 

 ommend our readers to try it. 



Sea Kale flourishes best in a sandy soil, well enriched with 

 decomposed vegetable manure and a top-dressing of salt. Sow 

 the seed in March or April, watering the bed freely if the 

 weather be dry. Thin out the plants gradually to two or three 

 inches apart; keeping the bed free from weeds by frequent 

 hoeing. In November cover the crowns of the plants with a 

 few inches of earth. In the spring, prepare beds as for aspara- 

 gus, and remove your plants in a similar manner, setting them 

 about two feet apart, and covering the crown of the root about 

 two inches deep, "Water occasionally, if the season be dry, 

 and hoe frequently. Allow no plants to go to seed. Early in 

 ISTovember give the bed two inches of well-rotted manure, 

 forking it over lightly at the same time. Now cover the 

 crowns of the plants with three or four inches of light soil, or 

 with pure sand if you can readily procure it. The bed being 

 thus finished, cover the crowns of the plants with large pots 

 or boxes, sinking them one or two inches in the ground, and 

 carefully stopping any holes in them. Then procure a quantity 

 of leaves from the woods, mix them with about the same 

 quantity of warm stable manure, and cover the ground and 

 boxes to the depth of twenty inches. In severe weather 

 throw over this some dry litter or boards. The materials will 

 come to a heat in two or three weeks ; and in three or four 

 weeks more it will be time to examine a pot or two, and when 

 the plants are found to have sprouts from six to eight inches 

 long, they may be cut for use. Eemove a portion of the earth, 

 and cut close to the crown, and then replace the box or pot, 

 and the other materials, and other shoots will soon appear. 

 The plants will continue in a vigorous state of growth for two 

 months, giving you a supply for the table nearly the whole 

 winter ; and having your bed once formed, the forcing process 

 just described may be repeated every year for fourteen or fif- 

 teen years. In the spring remove the covering gradually, dig- 

 ging in a few inches of the decayed material to strengthen the 

 plant for a future crop. 



