the soil on the quartz districts was voi-y iiiipro- 

 lific in man}' good grasses which Hourish on the 

 slate-clay, and was, generally speaking, of the 

 -worst description, still this fescue-gi-ass did not 

 appear to be aft'ected by the difterence, nor did 

 the cattle fail to eat down large tracts of such 

 pasturage. 



" The numerous troops of horses, too, on the 

 flanks of the Wickham heights, can procure 

 httle other fodder; while those of Mount Lowe 

 and Mount Vernet must depend upon it entirely. 

 Should the Tussac disappear from any part of 

 the Falklands, where stall-fed cattle are kept, it 

 might be desirable to treat this fescue-grass as 

 hay in England ; by wliich process its nutritious 

 qualities would, doubtless, be much better se- 

 cured to the animals during winter than by suf- 

 fering the leaves gradually to wither, and not 

 gathering them tiUnature has evaporated all the 

 juices. For sheep it might also answer well, 

 when converted into liay. though it seems likely 

 that tlie wet nature of this grass, together with 

 the damp situation where it grows, would pre- 

 vent these creatures thriving upon it, if restrict- 

 ed to such diet ; and, at all events, newly im- 

 ported flocks should not be suddenly removed 

 ft-om dry food to what is of so very succulent 

 a nature." 



KOHL RABI— IMPORTANT TO FARMERS. 



Sir : Everything which in ihe slightest de- 

 gree tends to the improvement of Agriculture 

 is, in the jiresent day, of so much importance 

 that I need not apologize to you for troubling 

 you with a few lines on a .subject so interesting 

 to the cultivators of the soil. The deficiency of 

 the Tuniip and Sv^-ede crop, in consequence of 

 the extraordinary drouth of the last Summer, 

 and the innumerable destructive insects, fly, 

 grub. &c,, produced by the dry and wann 

 weather, has been a lamentable bloAv to the 

 fanners of this country, and should lead agricul- 

 turists to endeavor either to eradicate those ene- 

 mies to their hopes, or to introduce a root etiually 

 valuable with the tuniip while it is less obnox- 

 ious to the attacks of those vermin. The Kohl 

 Rabi appears likely to supply this desideratum ; 

 and I wish, by giving you an account of my ex 

 perience of it, to induce the fanners of this 

 country to tiy it on a larger scale. If we can 

 obtain a root (if I may u.se the Iri.shism of call- 

 ing that a root which grows above ground) pro- 

 ducing an amount of food — l.st, equal in bulk to 

 the largest crop of Swedish turnips; 2d, of 

 equal or more nutritive qualities; 3d, not ob- 

 noxious to the attacks of grab or fly ; 4th, bet- 

 ter adapted for keeping through the Winter; 

 5th, capable of being planted at any season of 

 the year; 6th, enduring the fro.st of our Winter 

 — we shall have obtained one of the most 

 useful and valuable plants which the Giver of 

 all good has bestowed upon men. I may be 

 considered too sanguine if I attribute all the.se 

 qualities to the Kohl Rabi, but I feel convinced 

 that it deser^'es the greatest part if not all the 

 praise which I ascribe to it. I obtained a small 

 quantity of seed in Germany last year, and in 

 the month of March I sowed (thickly) a patch in 

 a sunny bed in my kitchen garden ; the ])lants 

 soon came up as thickly as possible, much re- 

 sembling young broccoli j'l^'^t-''- The di-y 

 weather .set in, and I despaired of being able to 

 plant them out in the ground which I liad pre- 

 pared for them. After vv'aiting several weeks, 

 and fearing that the plants liad become alnio.st 

 too old to transplant, I ventured to do so, lest the 

 (98) 



season should go by. I made a good, strong 

 comjiost with cow-dung and water from a muddy 

 pond, and another sort of diluted pigs' urine, 

 and in planting each plant (about eighteen inches 

 apart) 1 made a good puddle about the roots ; 

 in less than a week the plants held up their 

 heads and began to grow vigorou.sly. In Octo- 

 ber I- gathered in mj' crop, and the result is 

 as follows : — On a plot of gi-ound, as nearly 

 as I can reckon, containing 18 perche^ or lug, 

 I had 27 kipe baskets full, vveighing on the aver- 

 age 80 lbs. each, or, deducting .'5 lbs. for the 

 basket, 7.5 lbs. each ; thus I had 2,02.5 lbs. on this 

 small piece of ground, besides four or five hun- 

 dred weight of mangel-wurzel and selfset po- 

 tatoes. This, however, was the produce of the 

 driest season in the memory of man. I have no 

 doubt that more than double the amount might 

 be expected in any other season. Several of 

 the bulbs weighed six or seven pounds. 1 pur- 

 pose sending a fev^ as .specimens to the Glou- 

 cestershire Agricultural Show. I so^ved some 

 more seed on chance, without any manure, in a 

 soil rather impoverished, in the month of June, 

 having waited in vahi for rain. The plants 

 came up but did not thrive. During the la.st 

 month, after I had dug a field of potatoes in a 

 good soil, I tran.^ferred these sickly plants to the 

 late potato patch, where they have taken root, 

 and are growing surprisingl3' : I pui-jiose letting 

 them stand the Winter, and have little doubt dial 

 they vsill endure the frost and .snow. 



Any agriculturist who v^ould like to see them 

 grow ing, and •will apply to mj- bailiff, at Herap- 

 sted, is perfectly welcome to inspect the grow- 

 ing crop. The bulb partakes of a mixed cha- 

 racter, something between the inside of a cab- 

 bage stock and a Swedish turnip. When young 

 they are an excellent and delicious table veget. 

 able. I am, Sii-, yours obediently 



SAMUEL LYSONS. 



Hempstcd Court, near Gloucester, Nov. 11. 



N. B. — The seed should always be so^vn in a 

 bed, and transplanted ; it giows more rapidly, 

 and would secure it from the attack of the fly, if 

 it were inclined to attack it, which I believe it 

 never is. [Gloucestershire Chronicle. 



KOIIL RABI, OR EGYPTIAN KALE. 

 To the Editor of the Farmers' Gazette : 



Sir : In your paper of March 29tli, there is a 

 letter from Mr. Samuel Lysons, on the cultiva- 

 tion of the Kohl Rabi for cattle ; and as Mr. L. 

 mentions having obtained a small quantity of 

 seed in Germany, it may not be generally known 

 that it can be obtained fi-om any respectable 

 nui-seiy man in this countiy. I have grown it 

 aimually (with the exception of tv.-o or three 

 j-ears) tor the last eighteen years, as a culinaiy 

 vegetable, and have found it very convenient 

 and useful when other more tender vegetables 

 were scarce, especially from October to May, 

 during which time it can be had good. The 

 tops are used, when young and tender, for 

 greens; but the.?e should be gathered verj' 

 sparingly, otherwise it will retard the growth of 

 the bulb, which sometimes, on strong, rich soils, 

 will weigh a stone each ; but when they come 

 to anything like that size they ai-e not fit for the 

 table" as they get hard and \\oody ; therefore, 

 to have them tender and fit for the table for 

 seven or eight months of the year, it is necessary 

 to make two or three sowings from the first of 

 Marcli to the end of May, in a small seed bed, 

 for which one ounce of seed will be sufficient ; 



