KALE, SEA. 



mination is accelerated. The plants will in ge- 

 neral make their appearance in 4 or 5 months, 

 never sooner than 6 weeks ; but, on the other 

 hand, the seed will sometimes remain 12 months 

 before it vegetates. 



'The best time for increasing it by slips is in 

 March and April. Rooted offsets may be de- 

 tached from established plants ; or their roots, 

 which have attained the thickness of the third 

 finger, be cut into lengths, each having at least 

 two eyes. To plant the offsets requires no par- 

 ticular direction: the cuttings must be inserted 

 in an upright position 2 or 3 inches beneath 

 the surface. It is best to plant two together, to 

 obviate the danger of failure, at 2 feet apart, 

 to remain. 



Whatever mode of propagation is adopted, 

 the bed should be laid out 3 feet wide, and a 2 

 feet alley between every 2, in preference to the 

 plan sometimes recommended of planting 3 

 rows in beds 7 feet wide, for in such the soil 

 must be consolidated by the feet during the ne- 

 cessary grades of cultivation. 



If the months of June and July prove dry, 

 the beds should be plentifully watered. The 

 seedlings require no other attention during the 

 first summer than to be kept free from weeds, 

 and, if they come up too numerous, to be 

 thinned to 5 or 6 in each patch. When their 

 leaves have decayed, and been cleared away 

 about November, they must be earthed over an 

 inch or two with dry mould from the alleys, 

 and over this about 6 inches depth of long litter 

 be spread, and thus left to stand the winter. 

 In the following spring the litter is to be raked 

 off, and a little of the most rotten dug into the 

 alleys. When the plants have perfectly made 

 their appearance, they must be thinned, leav- 

 ing the strongest plant, or, as Mr. Maher re- 

 commends, the three strongest, at each patch ; 

 those removed being transplanted at similar 

 distances if required ; but it must be remarked 

 that those transplanted never attain so fine a 

 growth, or are so long-lived. In this second 

 winter the earthing must be increased to 5 or 

 6 inches deep over the crowns, and the cover- 

 ing of litter performed as before. In the third 

 spring, the litter being removed, and some dug 

 into the alleys as before, about an inch depth 

 of drift sand or coal ashes must be spread re- 

 gularly over the surface. The sprouts may 

 now be bleached and cut for use ; for if this is 

 commenced earlier, the stools are rendered 

 much less productive, and much shorter lived. 

 In November, or as soon as the leaves are de- 

 cayed, the beds being cleared of them, the coat- 

 ing of sand or ashes removed, and gently 

 stirred with the asparagus fork, they must be 

 covered with a mixture of three parts earth 

 from the alleys, and one part of thoroughly de- 

 cayed leaves, to the depth of 3 or 4 inches. The 

 major part of this is to be removed in the fol- 

 lowing spring, the beds forked, and the cover- 

 ing of sand renewed ; this routine of cultiva- 

 tion continuing during the existence of the 

 beds. 



The above course is the one also pursued if 

 the plants are raised from offsets or cuttings, 

 as it is much the best practice not to com- 

 mence cutting until they are two years old. 

 680 



KALE, SEA. 



Blanching, as before observed, may commence 

 the second spring after sowing. The most 

 simple mode is that originally adopted, name- 

 ly, to cover over each stool sand or ashes to 

 the depth of about a foot ; the shoots in their 

 passage through it, being excluded from the 

 light, are effectually bleached. But pots are 

 by much to be preferred to these coverings. 

 Common flower-pots of large dimensions may 

 be employed, care being taken to stop the hole 

 at the bottom with a piece of tile and clay, so 

 as to exclude every ray of light. 



Previous to covering the stools with the pots, 

 &c., the manure laid on in the winter must be 

 removed; and the operation should commence 

 at the close of February, or at least a month 

 before the shoots usually appear, as the shel- 

 ter of the pots assists materially in bringing 

 them forward. In 4 or 6 weeks after they are 

 covered the plants should be examined, and as 

 soon as they appear 3 or 4 inches high, they 

 may be cut ; for if none are taken until they 

 attain a fuller growth, the crop comes in too 

 much at once. In order to prolong the season 

 of production, Mr. Barton recommends plants 

 to be raised annually, so that every year a cut- 

 ting may be had from a yearling crop, which 

 comes in much later, and consequently suc- 

 ceeds in production the old established roots. 

 The shoots should be cut whilst young and 

 crisp, not exceeding 5 or 6 inches in height; 

 the section to be made just within the ground, 

 but not so as to injure the crown of the root. 

 Slipping off the stalks is said to be preferable 

 to cutting. The plants may be gathered from 

 until the flower begins to form, when all cover- 

 ing must be removed. If, when arrived at the 

 state in which broccoli is usually cut, the stalks 

 and immature flowers are employed as that 

 vegetable, they will be found an excellent sub- 

 stitute ; and this greatly enhances the value of 

 the plant, as broccoli does not stand the winter 

 frosts in the Northern States, and can only be 

 had when carefully protected ; but this plant 

 is sufficiently hardy to bear the frost without 

 injury. It flowers about June, and produces 

 abundance of seed on every stem, which ripens 

 about the close of July or early in August. 



To force sea kale, Mr. T. Baldwin, of Ragley, 

 recommends that, on each side of a 3 foot bed, 

 a trench is to be dug 2 feet deep, the side of it 

 next the bed being perpendicular, but the outer 

 side sloping, so as to make it 18 inches wide 

 at the bottom, but 2 feet at the top. These 

 trenches being filled with fermenting dung, 

 which of course may be renewed if ever found 

 necessary, and frames put over the plants, the 

 light is to be completely excluded by boards, 

 matting, &c. Unlike the generality of vege- 

 tables, the shoots of forced sea kale are always 

 more crisp and delicate than those produced 

 naturally. 



"To have this rare vegetable in perfection/' 

 says Bridgeman, "it -should be cooked as 

 soon as gathered. Let it be first soaked in 

 water, seasoned with salt, for half an hour; 

 then wash it in fresh water, and put it into the 

 cooking utensil ; keep it boiling briskly, skim 

 clean, and let off steam. When the stalks are 

 tender, which may be expected in from 15 to 



