CRUCIFERjfc. LXXXIII. BRASSICA. 



233 



wardest of these plants will be fit for gathering in the course of 

 winter, if the weather be mild ; but the principal part should be 

 set apart for a continuing spring crop, to increase in growth from 

 March till June, without running to seed, as would generally be 

 the case if sown before the time just specified. What are not 

 used in their colewort state in spring, will advance to cabbaging, 

 to be cut either with small hearts, or with middling or full heads, 

 in the early part of summer and autumn ; and if it be required 

 to have coleworts in a younger state in summer and autumn, you 

 may sow at the time of raising the spring-sown crop of cabbages. 



Taking In the crop. After taking off the head, never neglect 

 immediately to pull up the stalk, and carry it off, with all the 

 refuse leaves, to the compost heap, in order that the stems may 

 not push out shoots to exhaust the ground needlessly, as well as 

 to promote neatness and order. Some, who instead of remov- 

 ing the roots and stems of the main summer crop, leave them in 

 the ground, deprived of their injured leaves, and with the inter- 

 vals between the rows stirred, and perhaps manured, allow them 

 to stand till spring. Thus treated they push out in autumn ; 

 and in January or February abound in fine cabbage-sprouts, not 

 much inferior to young cabbages. Sometimes this practice is 

 applied to the earliest spring or summer sorts, in which case the 

 sprout cabbages come into use the following autumn. Cabbage 

 Colcnorts are gathered when the leaves are as broad as a man's 

 hand. The largest are drawn up by the root, which is usually 

 allowed to remain attached to those taken to public market, as it 

 retains the sap, and tends to preserve them succulent a longer 

 period than if the root was taken off. 



* * Red Cabbage. Chou pomme rouge (Fr.) Roth Kopfkohl 

 (Germ.) Cavdo rosso (Ital.) Brdssica oleracea, D. Capitata. 

 * * rubra, D. C. 1. c. 



This variety is similar in form to the White Cabbage, but of 

 a purple or brownish-red colour. The red cabbage is chiefly 

 used for pickling or garnishing ; and the dwarf red variety, 

 Mr. Neill observes, certainly does make one of the most beautiful 



Eickles that can be presented at table. Both the dwarf and 

 irge sorts are sometimes shredded down in winter salads, like 

 beet-root ; and the Germans prepare sour krout from all or any 

 of the varieties. 



The following are the principal varieties of Red Cabbage : 



1 Large red, or Red Dutch, with a large firm round head, 

 usually cultivated in market gardens. 



2 Dwarf red, with a small round, firm, delicate head, less 

 common than the other, chiefly cultivated in gentlemen's gar- 

 dens. 



3 Aberdeen red, with an open leafy head, chiefly found in 

 cottage gardens in the north of Scotland, and is an ingredient in 

 the national dish, the kale brose. 



The propagation, sowing, and culture, are in all respects the 

 same as for the winter cabbages, excepting that the heads are 

 not used when imperfectly formed, or as coleworts, but the 

 plants should in all cases be allowed to stand till they have 

 formed close firm heads. Sow in August, for a crop to stand 

 the winter, and to come in at the close of next summer, and 

 thence till the end of autumn. Sow early in spring for returns 

 in the following winter or spring. 



To save seeds of the different kinds of Cabbages, says Mr. 

 Neill, affords employment to many persons in various parts of 

 England. No plant is more liable to be spoilt by cross-breeds 

 than the cabbage tribe ; therefore the kinds must be kept, when 

 in flower, at a considerable distance from each other. Bees are 

 extremely apt to carry the pollen of one to the other, and pro- 

 duce confusion in the progeny. Market gardeners, and some 

 private individuals, raise seed for their own use. For this pur- 

 pose some of the handsomest cabbages are dug up in autumn, 

 and sunk in the ground to the head ; early next summer the 



VOL. i. PART in. 



flowers appear, and abundance of seed is produced. When the 

 seed has been well ripened, it will keep good for eight or ten 

 years. It has been observed, that seed gathered from the 

 entire plant produce better plants than those that are gathered 

 from the sprouts of plants that the heads have been taken off. 



5. Turnip-stemmed Cabbage. Chou-rave (Fr.) Rabi- 

 kale or Cole or Kohl-rube (Germ.) Egyptian kale. Cape Cab- 

 bage. (Brdssica oleracea, E. caulo-rdpa, D. C. I. c.) 



These resemble the Swedish turnip, which has shot into a 

 head. The stalk is very thick, and extends above ten inches 

 above the ground, and this thick stem has the appearance of a 

 turnip above ground. The principal varieties are the following : 



1 . Egyptian Kale, Rabi-kale ( D. C. I. c.) The stalk of this 

 variety is very thick, and extends about 10 inches above the 

 ground ; the leaves are narrow without crenatures, but gene- 

 rally have at the lower part a strong undulation on each side ; 

 they are of a glaucous-green, like those of the Swedish turnip. 

 It is chiefly grown in cottage-gardens, but this is not the true 

 Turnip Cabbage. This plant is probably a slight sub-variety 

 of the following. 



2 White Turnip-stemmed Cabbage (Engl.) Chou-rave-blanc. 

 Chou-rave-commun, Chou de Siam, (Fr.) Knol-kohl (Cape.) 

 B. oleracea, E. caulo-rapa * alba, (D. C. I. c.) Kohl-rube, or 

 Kohl-rabi (Germ.) Cabola (Ital.) The stem is thick with a 

 round or oval gibbosity in the middle like a turnip, two or three 

 inches from the ground, from which the leaves proceed ; they 

 are glaucous-green. The heart is open and not cabbaged. The 

 plant has not long been introduced, and has chiefly been culti- 

 vated as food for cattle. It is very common in the north of 

 Europe, especially in Sweden and Poland, where it is to be found 

 in every cottage-garden. The turnip part of the stem pared 

 and sliced down, is used in soups like the turnip, and sometimes 

 also served whole, but unless they are used when very young 

 they soon become rank. The leaves are used like those of greens 

 or coleworts, but as Abercrombie remarks, unless when very 

 young, are disagreeable and rank tasted. This appears scarcely to 

 be a variety of the last. Knol-kohl of the Cape and East Indies. 



3 Chou-rave-violet (Fr.) Purple Turnip-stemmed kale. Brds- 

 sica oleracea, E. Caulo-rdpa * * purpurascens, (D. C. I. c.) This 

 variety is distinguished from the last in having purplish leaves 

 and stems. The turnip on the stem is nearly of the same shape, 

 and the plant is cultivated for the same purposes. 



4 Chou-rave crepu (Fr.) Puvonazza (Ital.) {Brdssica 

 oleracea, E. caulo-rapa ft, crispa D. C. I. c.) This variety 

 grows short on the ground, and in the spring shoots up strongly 

 from the crown and sides, which are curled and fringed on the 

 edges. The bulb on the stem is not so thick as in the two 

 last varieties. The plant is chiefly cultivated at Naples. 



The propagation, sowing, culture, and saving seed are in all 

 respects the same as for the varieties of Borecole, which see. 



6. Cauliflower and Brocoli. (Brdssica oleracea, F. bo- 

 trytis, D. C. I. c.) These are distinguished from the other 

 varieties of Brdssica oleracea, by the peduncles and racemes 

 being corymbose, very fleshy, and very much crowded before 

 flowering. 



* Cauliflower, Chou-Jleur (Fr.) Blumenkohl (Germ.) Ca- 

 volo jiori (Ital.) This is one of the most delicate and curious 

 of the whole of the Brassica tribe, the flower-buds forming a 

 close firm cluster or head, white and delicate, and for the sake 

 of which the plant is cultivated. These heads or flowers being 

 boiled, wrapped generally in a clean linen cloth, are served up 

 as a most delicate dish. Cauliflower is a particular favourite in 

 this country. " Of all the flowers in the garden," Dr. Johnson 

 used to say, " I like the cauliflower." Its culture, however, 

 had been but little attended to till about the close of the 17th 

 century ; since that time it has been greatly improved, insomuch 



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