ii 4 THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES 



advantage, and it is that of the two Sea Kale is the more easy to 

 cultivate, and the more decidedly profitable if regarded solely as an 

 article of food. This comparison, therefore, has a practical bearing, 

 and we would say that in forming a new garden, and in cases where 

 it may not be possible to grow both these esculents advantageously, 

 Sea Kale should have attention first, as a thing that will require but 

 a small investment, and that will surely pay its way, not only with 

 quick returns but with large profits, to the general advantage of the 

 household. 



Sea Kale requires strong ground, fully exposed to the sun, and 

 enriched with any good manure that may be handy, our old friend 

 that is born of the well-provendered stable being undoubtedly the 

 best of all. The most satisfactory way to begin is with well-grown 

 roots, as they make a return at once with the least imaginable trouble. 

 Let the ground be well dug two spits deep, and put a coat of manure 

 between ; or if it is a good substantial loam, plant without manure, 

 and the results will be excellent. As the thriving plant covers a 

 considerable space, and there must be a certain amount of traffic on 

 the ground to manage it, there should be one row in the centre of a 

 four-feet bed, with a broad alley on one side ; or better still, mark out 

 a ten-feet space, with a three-feet alley on each side, and in this 

 space plant three rows two and a half feet apart, and the roots two 

 feet apart. The planting may be done at any time after the leaves 

 have fallen, late in autumn, and during winter and early spring. On 

 warm, dry ground, winter planting answers perfectly, and enables the 

 gardener to get rid of the job, for there is always enough to do in 

 the spring months. But on damp ground and in exposed situations, 

 the best time to plant is the month of March. Put down the line, 

 and open a trench one foot deep, and plant the roots with their 

 crowns two inches below, the surface, filling in and treading firmly as 

 each trench is planted. The precaution may be taken to pare off 

 all the pointed prominent buds on each crown, as this will prevent 

 the rise of flower stems ; but if this is neglected, the cultivator must take 

 care to cut out all the flowering shoots that appear, for the production 

 of flowers will prove detrimental to the crop of Sea Kale in the 

 following season. Our custom, when a plantation has been thus made, 

 is to grow another crop with it the first season. The ground between 

 the rows is marked out in narrow strips, and lightly forked over, and 

 if a coat of rotten manure can be spared it is pricked in, and a neat 

 seed-bed is made of every strip, eighteen to twenty-four inches wide. 

 On this we sow Onions, Lettuces, and other light crops, and as the 



