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THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Some growers do not cut the roots 

 until planting time, but lay them 

 on the beds as : elected from the 

 shed. In March, when the beds 

 are uncovered, they select the best 

 eye, then cut the roots at the re- 

 quired length below it, and rub off 

 all other eyes, as in the previous 

 case. The Sea-kale cuttings, being 

 thus prepared for planting, are in- 

 serted with iron-shod dibbles into 

 ground which was well manured 

 and deeply dug or trenched in 

 winter, levelled in February, and 

 lines drawn along it 3 ft. apart and 

 planted with Cauliflowers, keeping 

 them at the same distance asunder 

 in the rows. Between the lines of 

 Cauliflowers other lines are drawn 

 precisely in the middle, and in 

 them are planted White or Green 

 Paris Cos Lettuces 18 in. apart. 

 In the rows occupied by the Cauli- 

 flowers, too, Lettuce-plants are 

 inserted alternately. A Sea-kale 

 plant is now placed alternately with 

 the Lettuces and Cauliflowers, but 

 in the same lines. The Lettuces 

 are first ready for market, and are 

 removed before they injure the 

 Cauliflowers, which by the end of 

 June are marketed, leaving the 

 Sea-kale, which will be coming up 

 strongly by this time, in sole pos- 

 session of the soil. Some growers 

 plant Sea-kale sets 15 to 18 in. 

 apart amongst spring Cabbages, 

 which are all removed before they 

 can materially injure the Sea-kale. 

 Others plant them between Aspa- 

 ragus ridges ; but in this case they 

 must all be lifted at the end of the 

 first season, as is also the case 

 when they are planted between fruit 

 bushes and Moss Roses. Some 

 market-gardeners who grow roots 

 for sale plant their sets at 18 in. 

 apart each way, and never intercrop 

 the ground amongst them, but take 

 great care of them ; and, under 



such management, they get finer 

 roots than those produced among 

 other crops. No care is necessary 

 among Sea-kale plantations through- 

 out the summer and autumn, beyond 

 frequently hoeing the surface soil, 

 cutting away all flower-spikes, and 

 rubbing off all small shoots that 

 may chance to spring around the 

 main one. 



When forcing-time arrives, if the 

 field is to be kept to yield what is 

 termed "natural " Kale, i.e. without 

 being forced in any way, every third 

 row of roots is lifted as required for 

 forcing, and thus the rows are left 

 in pairs with a space of 3 ft. between 

 them. The surface of the soil is 

 then raked clean, and from this 

 wide space the rows are earthed 

 over to the depth of 6 in. to pre- 

 vent the frost penetrating the ground 

 amongst the crowns, and thus ren- 

 dering it cold and late. The Kale 

 begins to push about the second 

 week in March, and, according to the 

 position of the field and the nature 

 of the soil and weather, a supply 

 may be gleaned therefrom till the 

 end of April. As soon as the point 

 of a shoot of Kale is discerned above 

 the ridge, the head is fit for cutting. 



For early forcing, the very best 

 crowns, and such as the leaves die 

 away from earliest, are selected and 

 trimmed, so that 4 or 5 in. of the 

 main stem, with the crown on the 

 top, only remain. These are then 

 placed closely together in an upright 

 position in a hot-bed prepared for 

 starting them in, which, in the case 

 of the earliest batch, consists of a 

 manure-bed covered with frames 

 and sashes, and a few inches deep 

 of soil levelled within the frames for 

 planting the roots amongst. A heat 

 of 65 or 70 is kept up inside the 

 frames, if possible, by applying hot 

 linings of manure and by placing 

 litter or mats on the surface over 



