THE CABBAGE OR BRASSTCA FAMILY 91 



or Early Vienna varieties and follow the rules set down 

 for cabbages. Unlike turnips, kohl-rabi permits of 

 successful storing. 



Doubt has been cast upon the advisability of eating 

 this vegetable by the report of a German professor who 

 ascribed a widespread epidemic in his country to the use 

 of the kohl-rabi as an article of human consumption. 

 The following, quoted from the Daily Express, should be 

 reassuring to those who have hesitated to place this 

 brassica on their table : " Allotment-holders who are 

 growing kohl-rabi have been alarmed to read the remarks 

 of Professor Abderhalden, physiologist at Halle Uni- 

 versity, in a recent lecture on War and Health. He 

 attributed the epidemics at various places in Germany 

 to eating the turnip-rooted cabbages called kohl-rabi. 



" However, Professor Keeble, F.R.S., C.B.E., head of 

 the horticultural section of the Food Production Depart- 

 ment, is reassuring. He told a Daily Express represen- 

 tative yesterday that Professor Abderhalden's opinion 

 should be treated with consideration, but with reserva- 

 tion. He should say the trouble was due to the fact 

 that kohl-rabi had entered too largely into the diet of 

 the Germans. 



1 ' A moderate quantity of the turnip-rooted cabbage, 

 properly cooked, far from being unwholesome, is an excel- 

 lent food. It stands to reason that when the general state 

 of the body is lowered by insufficient nutrition, a large num- 

 ber of things, which at other times are quite good and whole- 

 some, may produce bad effects. 



; ' On the whole, I am of opinion that the German pro- 

 fessor's statement seems to be an indication of a general 

 deterioration in the German diet. It appears to indicate 

 that the German physique is becoming low. 



