BORECOLE OR KALE 



163 



sensitive to cold. It branches still more than the preceding kind, 



and forms a sort of large tuft or small bush, 3 to 4 ft. highland 



exceedingly dense and leafy. The leaves 



are entire, rather long, broader at the base 



than at the end, and of a very peculiar light 



or yellowish tint. It is rather tender for 



the winter climate of the greater part of 



England. 



Marrow Kale. A large variety of 

 Cabbage, with a very stout and thick un- 

 branched stem, which is swollen chiefly in 

 the upper two-thirds of its length and filled 

 with a sort of marrow or tender flesh, 

 excellent for cattle. The leaves are very 

 long and broad, and constitute a considerable 

 part of the crop. The stem grows 5 ft. or 

 more high, with a diameter of 3 to 4 in. in the thickest part. The 

 Marrow Kale, like the Thousand-headed Cabbage, is sensitive to 

 cold, and the crop must be gathered before severe frost sets in. At 

 the end of summer, and all through the autumn, the leaves are cut 

 and given to cattle. At the commencement of hard weather, when 

 the leaves are all cut, the stems are taken up and stored in an 

 outhouse or shed, where they will be safe from frost, and in this 

 way they will keep all through the winter. 



This plant forms the connecting-link between the common 

 Cattle-feeding Cabbages and the Kohl-Rabi, and, in a more general 

 way, between the Cabbages which are grown for their leaves and 

 those which are grown for their swollen steins. The Kohl-Rabi 

 is only a Marrow Kale with the stem shortened into the form of 

 a ball, the marrow or substance of the swollen 

 part being of the same nature, consistence, 

 and taste in both plants. 



The stem of the Marrow Kale, if cut while 

 young, when the swollen part does not measure 

 more than 20 in. or 2 ft. in length and 2 or 

 3 in. in diameter, would, in our opinion, form 

 a very palatable vegetable. 



Red Marrow Kale. This differs from the 

 preceding kind only in the red or purplish 

 colour of its stem. It has the same good 

 qualities and the same deficiencies. 



In England, a great number of kinds of 

 Borecole or Kale are grown, the leaves of 

 which are either entire or divided, and smooth 

 or faintly crimped, and some of them are as useful in the garden 

 as the much-curled sorts. The principal sorts are : 



Red Marrow Kale. 



