ASPARAGINOUS PLANTS. 279 



having very thick foot- stalks and mid-ribs. The 

 flowering head is much branched ; the single flowers 

 are of a beautiful white, and have a rich odour of 

 honey. They are followed by roundish pods, having 

 two cells, one of which generally contains a seed, 

 and the other is abortive. Notwithstanding which, 

 however, the number of flowers upon one plant is 

 so great as always to produce an abundance of seed. 

 The shoots proceed from eyes on the roots, or from 

 buds in the axillae of the radical leaves ; if these 

 leaves are removed, and the flowering stems, as soon 

 as they begin to appear, are cut, the number of the 

 shoots, and the rapidity of their growth, are increased. 

 This is an effect very desirable to be attained, since 

 these shoots when young and tender, and the stalks 

 of the unfolding leaves when blanched either by na- 

 tural or artificial culture, are the parts used as an 

 edible substance in the manner of asparagus. The 

 peeled mid-rib of the large leaves which have been 

 allowed to expand, after the plants have ceased to 

 send up young shoots, is sometimes applied to the 

 same purpose. 



As the roots of sea-kale are perennial, and contain 

 eyes or buds, the plant may be propagated either 

 by sowing the seeds or parting the roots. Either of 

 these methods may be advantageously pursued in the 

 middle of the spring. 



A deep light soil is so essential to this culture, 

 that if the earth do not naturally contain sand, as 

 much of this must be mixed with it as will ensure 

 a drainage to the depth of at least two feet and a 

 half. Water stagnating in any part of the soil to 

 which the roots may reach, is found injurious to the 

 plants. 



The well-known nature and peculiarity of the soil 

 and situation in which sea-kale is found point out the 

 mode of its artificial culture much more clearly than 



