BOOT CROPS AND OTHER COMPARABLE FORAGES 593 



from October to April in regions where the winters are 

 mild. Kale is usually fed to dairy cows, but to avoid 

 tainting the milk, it should be fed just after milking, 25 

 to 40 pounds a day, in two feeds. The kale may be fed 

 fresh or allowed to wilt before feeding, but it should not 

 be cut more than four or five days before it is fed, nor 

 should it be thrown in heaps, as it heats readily. Kale 

 should not be fed while it is frozen. On the approach of 

 freezing weather a supply sufficient to last several days 

 should be placed in the barn. 



Kale may be grown by planting the seeds in hills 

 2.5 to 3 feet apart and then thinning to one plant. It is 

 better, however, to start the plants in a seed bed and then 

 transplant. The seed should be sown as early in spring 

 as conditions will permit, and the young plants trans- 

 planted to well-prepared land when 3 or 4 inches high. 

 The transplanting is commonly done by dropping the 

 plants into furrows at the proper distance apart so that 

 the next furrow will cover the roots, but not the tops. 

 The land is then rolled and any " misses " are later planted 

 by hand. 



Kale does not seed until the second year, and on the 

 Pacific Coast the plants survive the winter. As the plants 

 vary considerably, it is advisable to select the best plants. 

 At the Puyallup, Washington, Substation, a yield of 1800 

 pounds of seed to an acre is reported. 



Thousand-headed kale produced an average yield for 

 6 years of 19.1 tons an acre at the Ontario Agricultural 

 College. At the New Hampshire Experiment Station 

 a yield of 47,432 pounds to the acre was secured. 



Another variety of kale called marrow cabbage, 

 which has thick fleshy stems, has given very promising 

 results in western Washington. This variety is differ- 



