Vegetables with Edible Leaves or Stems 97 



When mature, the heads should be cut, leaving only a few 

 leaves on to protect them, and packed tightly in vegetable 

 crates. 



The leading varieties are Veitch's Self-protecting, Purple 

 Cape, and Mammoth White. 



KOHLRABI 



Cultivated plants belonging to the mustard family have 

 been bred into many striking forms to supply the people 

 of Europe with vegetables. Cabbages store the nourish- 

 ment in abundant leaves ; turnips store the food material 

 in the roots; kohlrabi combines the two and stores the 

 nourishment in the stem at the base of the leaves and above 

 the root. In taste it displays the same adaptation, for, 

 while it partakes of the flavors of cabbage and of turnips, 

 it is distinct from both. It is prepared for eating in the 

 same way as turnip. 



The seed should be sown in a coldframe in September, 

 and the sowing repeated every four weeks until the first 

 of February. As soon as the seedlings are an inch high, 

 and before the leaves begin to appear, they should be 

 pricked out in rows 4 inches apart, setting the plants every 

 inch in the row. When they are 4 or 5 inches high, the 

 seedlings are planted out in the field. Kohlrabi may 

 also be treated the same as cabbage plants. 



The soil should be a rich loam prepared deeply. The 

 rows are made 2 feet distant, and the plants set a foot 

 apart in the row. Cultivation should be frequent and to 

 a medium depth. As soon as the stems have attained 

 the diameter of 2 inches, they may be used. The Early 



