BRASSICA. 261 



to three classes, having their distinctive characters 

 sufficiently marked for all practical purposes. 



1st class. CABBAGES, in which the leaves gather 

 into what is called a head, and are blanched by their 

 own compression. The green colour is always much 

 more completely destroyed by this blanching than 

 the red ; and the smaller the tendency which the 

 expanded leaves have to blue or purple, the more 

 sweet and crisp will the head become. 



Cabbages are propagated by seed, which is sown 

 at the three seasons, spring, summer, and autumn, to 

 obtain a supply in succession. The soil for the seed- 

 beds should be light, and not very rich. 



The plants, from seed sown in autumn, are finally 

 transplanted in spring. Most generally the seedlings 

 are pricked out from the seed-beds as soon as they 

 have one or two leaves of an inch or two broad, into 

 beds of good earth : thence they are transplanted into 

 a rich soil, which should be well manured. 



2d class. KALE or COLEWORT. In these the 

 leaves are expanded and coloured, with the exception 

 of a small portion in the centre, which encloses the 

 rudiments of the flowering stem. The plain-leaved 

 cole-wort is now seldom found in English cultivation. 

 BORECOLE, or curly-leaved colewort, Brassica olera- 

 cea, var. 3 sabellica, very generally, however, finds 

 a place in our gardens. The green borecole, or 

 Sketch kale, and the purple or brown borecole, are 

 the most hardy of the race, and are therefore best- 

 adapted for cold situations and late seasons. The 

 plants, when vegetating in a rich soil, grow vigorously, 

 and attain to large dimensions ; but, in common with 

 most of the genus, moderate sized plants are best for 

 culinary purposes, the very large being harsh, and 

 those which are so small as to be stunted are bitter. 



