KALE 



colored, often finely cut, leaves witli fleshy leaf -stems, 

 which form part of the edihle portion. These leaf-stems 

 are tough in the early autumn, but become crisp and pala- 

 table with the accession of autumn frosts. The plant is ex- 

 ceedingl V hardy ; in the southern states it winters without 

 injury and in the Atlantic states may be carried through 

 with slight winter protection. For autumn use the seeds 

 are sown in early spring under glass or in coldframes 

 and treated exactly as cabbage. In the South the seed 

 may be sown in August or September, and the plants 

 are ready for use the following spring. In the colder 

 regions they may be carried through the winter in cold- 

 frames. Leading types: (1) Dwarf Scotch Curled; (2) 

 Tall Green Curled; (3) Variegated; (4) Purple. There 

 are many intermediate forms. The finely cut varieties 

 of Scotch Kale are now frequently used for bedding pur- 

 poses. Their hardiness gives them special features of 

 usefulness in the autumn. 

 Kale is adapted to a wide 

 range of country. One of 

 the leading Kale centers is 

 Norfolk, Va., where it is 

 grown during fall and win- 

 ter for the early northern 

 market. See also Brasslca 

 and Cabbaae. ^^^^ ^^^^^ 



The Dwarf Scotch Kale 

 makes a most excellent plant 

 for spring greens. It is 

 hardy enough to stand the 

 winters of western New 

 York without protection 

 uninjured, and to make a 

 new growth of tender 

 sprouts very early in spring. 

 These sprouts are .service- 

 able for greens, salads, etc. 

 For this purpose we sow 

 seed early in .June, either in 

 a seed-bed and transplant 

 the seedlings, just as we do 

 cabbages, or directly in the 

 hill, thinning to one plant in 

 a hill. In a general way, 

 the plant is handled like late 

 cabbage. t. Greiner. 



Kale at Norfolk (Fig. 

 1204 ). - Truckers about Nor- 

 folk, Va., grow both the 

 Scotch and the Blue Kale, 

 more of the former than of 

 the latter. The amount of 

 Kale shipped from Norfolk 



one year with another will average somewhere between 

 175,000 and 200,000 barrels. The number of barrels 

 shipped in a single season has reached as high as a 

 quarter-million. 



The soil most desirable is a clay loam, — just such land 

 as is best adapted to the growth of cabbages. The seed 

 is sown with a hand drill in August, and shipments 

 therefrom begin in October following, and continue 

 off and on throughout the winter, until the crop is en- 

 tirely shipped, — say until April 1 to 15 following. As 

 soon as the frosts in the vicinity of New York and 

 Philadelphia have been sufhciently heavy in the fall to 

 kill all outdoor vegetaoles, Norfolk Kale is in fairly 

 good demand and brings from 75 cts. to $2 per barrel in 

 northern markets. The yield per acre ranges from 200 

 barrels up to 400. Instances have been known in which 

 more than GOO barrels of the Mammoth Kale have been 

 raised from an acre of ground. It is a cheap crop to 

 raise, requiring not more than half as much fertilizer as 

 the spinach crop. 



The soil is prepared, generally, in the following man- 

 ner: It is thoroughly plowed, say about August 1, and 

 harrowed level and smooth, and as the lands are very 

 loose the Kale bed, although it may comprise 100 acres, 

 is as mellow and as friable as the best of garden lands 

 anywhere. A little later in the month the soil is thrown 

 up with a single plow into small beds or ridges. Some- 

 times a single row will be sown by itself on a little ridge. 

 Sometimes a ridge will be wider, and two rows will be 



KALMIA 



853 



grown thereon. Sometimes four or five rows are thus 

 sown; but as the soil must be relieved of the winter's 

 rains, the beds are generally narrow, with little furrows 

 between them to draw off any surplus water which may 

 fall duringthewinter months, aswe have from 2 to G inches 

 of rain per month throughout the year. After the plants 

 are well up theyare tilled between the rowswith cultivator 

 or small plow, and hands are sent through the field with 

 small hand hoes to thin out the crop, leaving healthy 

 plants at about G inches apart. In the warm and sunny 

 days of September, October and November the plant 

 makes a heavy growth, covering the earth entirely in 

 many instances. Then the trucker.if the demand f nr Kale 

 be good, can thin out and sell the surplus plants, leaving 

 the remainder to reach a greater degree of development ; 

 or he can cut clean as he goes, and put the same land 

 into radish or winter peas later in the winter. 



There is money in the Kale crop at 75 cts. per barrel. 

 During the past season the price has ranged from 50 

 cts. to $2 per barrel, and has paid very well indeed. 

 Within 15 miles of Norfolk, something over 1,000 acres 

 is devoted to Kale each year. It is considered one of the 

 cheapest crops to grow, yielding a moderate percentage 

 of profit. If the soil is in good or fair condition, very lit- 

 tle fertilizer or manure is required for the Kale crop. Its 

 cultivation is simple and inexpensive. It is cut when 

 ready for market and packed in barrels, using canvas 

 for one of the barrel heads, at a cost of 5 cts. per barrel 

 for cutting. a. Jeffers. 



laritiiiiit ; but treated under 



KALMIA (after Peter Kalm, Swedish botanist, trav- 

 eled 1748-51 in N. America). JSricdcece. American 

 Laurel. Beautiful ornamental evergreen shrubs, rarely 

 deciduous, with entire opposite or alternate Ivs. and 

 purple, pink or almost white showy fls. in terminal 

 corymbs or in axillary umbels, rarely solitary: fr. cap- 

 sular. Most of the species are hardy North, particularly 

 the most ornamental member of the genus. A', latifolia, 

 which next to Rhododendron is the most beautiful flow- 

 ering hardy evergreen. Massed in groups or as single 

 specimen on the lawn, it is one of the most decorative 

 plants when covered with its abundant pink flowers. 

 Even small plants produce flowers. The foliage is very 



