408 HORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 



Meadow cat's-tail (Phknm pratense) arrives speedily at perfec- 

 tion. It is very productive in the fore-part of the season, and the 



Nutritive Woody 



matter, fibre, Water, 



grains. grains. grains. 



(Brassicarapa, var.)the seeds of which were communicated 



to the Duke of Bedford by the Right Hon. Sir John 



Sinclair, Bart, from the celebrated Doctor Von Hopsen 



of Vienna - - 400 - 320 - 6280 



One pound of the leaves or tops of the turnip-rooted 



cabbage, consisted of - - 252 - 360 - 6396 



The turnip-rooted cabbage has a woody short stem, produced by the formation 

 and decay of the leaves ; as new leaves are formed by the central bud of the stem, 

 the lower leaves drop off, and thus the top of the bulb assumes the appearance of a 

 stem. A part of this woody stem was included in the portion of the bulb submitted 

 to experiment ; in the other instance the leaves simply were submitted to trial : 

 hence, the superior quantity of woody fibre contained in the root in comparison to 

 that afforded by the leaves. The cattle cabbage, and York cabbage, mentioned 

 above, are of a very solid consistence : the leaves are rolled up, and, excepting the 

 outer ones, excluded from the action of the air ; hence it seems that exposure to the 

 influence of the sun-beams and atmosphere tends towards the increase of woody 

 fibre in this class of plants. 



The Woburn perennial kale* is a valuable variety of the open-growing cabbage. 

 It is propagated by planting cuttings of the stems and branches. The seed is apt to 

 produce spurious plants. The soil should be rich. The expense of forming a 

 plantation of this kale is not more than that of the common cabbage ; and it has 

 this advantage over other sorts of cabbage, or kale, that it continues highly produc- 

 tive for many years without farther trouble or expense than what is incurred 

 in keeping the ground clean of weeds. 



For the table, it is not inferior to the best kinds of greens or kale, and for the 

 farm, and cottage-garden, its highly productive powers, and cheapness of culture, 

 promise to render this plant highly valuable. The perennial habit of the Woburn 

 kale places it out of the reach of the yearly accidents of weather, bad seed, and the 

 depredations of insects, to which all other varieties of cabbage, and every other 

 crop, indeed, which requires the seed to be sown annually, are subject. 



Swedish turnips are superior to cabbages in the quantity of nutritive matter they 

 afford, in the proportion of 110 to 107; and the common field turnip is inferior in 

 the proportion of 80 to 107*. Carrots are more nutritive than cabbages, in the pro- 

 portion of 187 to 107. 



3. Potatoes (Solanum tuberosutn). The varieties of the potatoe are very numerous, 

 and the confusion of their names inextricable. Those most valued in the field- 

 culture are the ox-noble, yam, champion, purple-red, rough-red, hundred-eyes, 

 Yorkshire kidney, and Moulton white. Though there is some difference of opinion 

 respecting the time when this most valuable root was first cultivated in Great 

 Britain, as also of the individual to whom we are indebted for its introduction ; yet 



* For an account of the culture and valuable properties of this variety of kale, 

 see a paper published in Vol. V. of the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of 

 London. 



