354 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



to 16 feet. The farmers there feed their cows with the leaves, 

 plucking them from the stem as they grow, while they leave 

 the crown at the top. At the end of the season, when the 

 leaves are no longer produced, the crown is boiled, and is said 

 to be particularly sweet. 



The other varieties of the Brassica oleracea belong to the 

 kitchen-garden rather than to the farm. 



Crambe maritima, Sea-kale. Crambe maritima grows on 

 the sandy shores in the west of England and elsewhere on the 

 English coast, and the common people have from time im- 

 memorial been in the practice of watching when the shoots 

 and leaf-stalks begin to push up the sand and gravel in March 

 and April, and then they cut them off' under ground, as is done 

 in gathering asparagus, and boil them as greens. The plant 

 was not introduced into our gardens till about the middle of 

 the last century. Miller says all kinds of cattle eat it. 



Crambe tataria has a great fleshy root, known in Hungary 

 as tartar bread. It is peeled and sliced, then eaten with oil, 

 vinegar, and salt. The boiled root is sweet, and is eaten by 

 children. The young shoots also are boiled like those of sea- 

 kale, and have an excellent taste ; but are stringy, which they 

 would not be were the plant well cultivated, as it deserves 

 to be.* 



Cochlearia officincdis, Common Scurvy-grass Cochlearia 

 armoracia, Horse-radish. The common scurvy-grass and 

 some of the allied annual species were formerly much used 

 in salads, with the reputation of being antiscorbutic. The 

 horse-radish keeps its ground as a condiment to roast-beef. 



Lepidium sativum, Garden-cress Nasturtium officinale, 

 Water-cress Raplianus sativus, Common Eadish. These 

 well-known relishes are not without their good effect on the 



* See Lindley's 'Vegetable Kingdom/ p. 354, and Loudon, 'Encyclo- 

 pedia of Plants,' p. 557. 



