610 BRASSICACEOUS ESCULENTS, OR THE CABBAGE TRIBE. 



Cattail's Eclipse, Melville's Dalmeny, May's Surprise, Elliston's Mam- 

 moth, and Williams's Alexandra are good varieties. 



Time of Sowing. For the early autumn and winter varieties, sow 

 at two or three different times from the end of April to the middle of 

 June or July. The late winter, early spring, and summer varieties 

 should be sown in March and April. 



General Culture. Most of the sorts may be planted in rows two and 

 a-half by three feet ; but for the dwarf varieties, such as the late 

 Dwarf Purple, and the Spring White, eighteen inches every way will 

 be sufficient. The routine culture consists of watering when the 

 plants are newly planted, destroying the -weeds by hoeing, stirring the 

 soil with a fork, and earthing up the stems. The very dwarf sorts 

 require no protection in ordinary winters ; but the taller growing 

 kinds are apt to be severely injured by frost, and should either be 

 protected where they stand, or by removal to an open shed, as directed 

 for cauliflower. A mulching of hay, straw, or leaves, or a number 

 of branches with the leaves on, stuck in among the tall- stemmed 

 sorts, is frequently found effective. Tying the leaves together over 

 the top is often a sufficient protection ; the plants are also frequently 

 thrown half over before winter, with their heads to the north, and 

 their stems earthed up to the leaves, as a means of protecting them 

 from frost. Thus treated the flowers will not be so large, but a small 

 head is better than none. In gathering the heads, they should be 

 cut while they are compact, or as technically expressed, before the 

 curd becomes broken, with about six inches of the stalk to each head 

 and the stems may be left to produce sprouts. 



The turnip-cabbage, or turnip borecole (B. oleracea Caulo-rapa 

 communis, Dec.; Chou-rave, Fr.; KohlRabi, Ger.),is a dwarf-growing 

 plant, with the stem swelled out so as to resemble a turnip above 

 ground, but of a delicate green colour. It is much cultivated in 

 Germany, and even forced for the sake of the stem or turnip, which, 

 taken in a young state, is dressed whole and eaten with sauce, or as 

 vegetables to meat, like turnips or potatoes. In England it is very 

 little used. The seed is sown in early spring, and the plants treated 

 like other borecoles ; the stem or turnip part being gathered while it 

 is quite succulent, and will boil tender. To procure a supply through- 

 out the summer, two or three sowings would require to be made. 



General Culture and Management of the Cabbage Tribe. In the choice 

 of sub-varieties, it will be borne in mind that the dwarf kinds come 

 soonest into use, and retain heat and moisture better, by the covering 

 which their leaves afford to their stems, and to the soil, than the tall- 

 growing kinds ; but that owing to the shorter period at which, in most 

 cases, they arrive at maturity, they require a richer soil ; while the 

 ramose roots of the tall kinds extend to a greater distance, and conse- 

 quently are adapted for poorer soil ; and in rich soils for producing 

 larger plants. As all the varieties are biennials, the largest crops will 

 be produced by autumnal plantations, by which longer time is given 

 to the plants to lay up a stock of organizable matter. An ounce of 

 seed of any of the varieties is the usual quantity ordered from seeds- 



