FOOD PRODUCTS. 45 



The first of these is fully described in the Kew Bulletin, No. 

 17, for May, 1888, from which we gather the following notes : 

 Seeds of this cabbage were offered to the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, in April, 1887, by a correspondent who had occupied 

 an important position at Chefoo, China. He says, " I have 

 just received from Chefoo, North China, a small packet of 

 Shantung cabbage seed, and I should like, if possible, to intro- 

 duce this delicious cabbage into England. It grows in the 

 north of China, is lettuce-shaped, and weighs from five to 

 eight pounds. When boiled it is nearly as good, if not quite, 

 as sea-kale ; eaten raw in a salad it is of so delicate a flavour 

 that I know of no vegetable in England to approach it. It is 

 an autumn cabbage, should be planted about eighteen inches 

 apart, thrives best with moisture, and in Shantung is well 

 watered every day ; there the seed is sown in June. When 

 nearly full-grown it should be tied round so as to give it a good 

 white heart. If it can be acclimatised in this country it will 

 be a great addition to our vegetables." The seeds received 

 at Kew " were so\vn in a heated pit on the 3rd of May, and 

 in about a fortnight all had germinated ; they were pricked 

 off into boxes, and when large enough .transferred to pots. 

 They were kept in a cold frame until the beginning of June, 

 when they were planted out in beds of rich soil, about 

 eighteen inches apart in the rows and the same distance 

 from row to row. About the middle of July the plants were 

 tied up in the same way as cos lettuce, and when well filled 

 and blanched were cut for use. They were pronounced to be 

 excellent. It is possible that this Chinese cabbage may 

 prove a useful addition to English gardens." 



The CROSNES (Stachys Sieboldi). The first notice of 

 this new vegetable appeared in the Revue Horticole, 1885, 

 p. 236, and in 1887 was introduced for use in France, having 

 been cultivated by M. Paillieux, who now grows it on a 

 large scale for the Paris market, where it is known under 

 the above name of " Crosnes," from the locality where its 



