KALE 



Dlored, often finely cut, leaves with fleshy leaf-stems, 

 -hich form part of the edible portion. Taese leaf-stems 

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

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

 ?edingly hardy ; in the southern states it winters without 

 i jury and in the Atlantic states may be carried through 

 '-ith slight winter protection. For autumn use the seeds 

 re sown in early spring under glass or in coldframes 

 n d treated exactly as cabbage. In the South the seed 

 lay be sown in August or September, and the plants 

 re ready for use the following spring. In the colder 

 ijgions they may be carried through the winter in cold- 

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

 'all Green Curled; (3) Variegated; (4) Purple. There 

 re many intermediate forms. The finely cut varieties 

 f Scotch Kale are now frequently used for bedding pur- 

 oses. Their hardiness gives them special features of 

 sefulness in the autumn. 

 ; :ale is adapted to a wide 

 ange of country. One of 

 le leading Kale centers is 

 'orfolk, Va., where it is 

 rown during fall and win- 

 ?r for the early northern 

 larket. See also Brassica 

 ; nd Cabbage. 



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 duringthe winter months, as we have from 2 to 6 inches 

 of rain per month throughout the year. After the plants 

 are well up they are 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 6 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 for 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. 



The Dwarf Scotch Kale 

 lakes a most excellent plant 

 )r spring greens. It is 

 ardy enough to stand the 

 'inters of western New 

 'ork without protection 

 ninjured, and to make a 

 ew growth of tender 

 prouts very early in spring. 



Phese sprouts are service- 



'ble for greens, salads, etc. 

 'or this purpose we sow 

 eed early in June, either in 

 seed-bed and transplant 

 le seedlings, just as we do 



! abbages, or directly in the 

 ill, thinning to one plant in 

 hill. In a general way, 

 le plant is handled like late 



abbage. T. GREINER. 

 KALE AT NORFOLK (Fig. 



, 204 ) . - Truckers about Nor- 

 Mk, Va., grow both the 

 cotch and the Blue Kale, 



.lore of the former than of 

 le latter. The amount of 

 lale shipped from Norfolk 



1204. A Norfolk Kale field at the Christmas harvest time. 



ne year with another will average somewhere between 

 ;75,000 and 200,000 barrels. The number of barrels 

 hipped in a single season has reached as high as a 

 juarter-million. 



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

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

 * sown with a hand drill in August, and shipments 

 ; lerefrom begin in October following, and continue 

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

 .rely shipped, say until April 1 to 15 following. As 

 oon as the frosts iu the vicinity of New York and 

 'hiladelphia have been sufficiently heavy in the fall to 

 ill all outdoor vegetaoles, Norfolk Kale is in fairly 

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

 orthern markets. The yield per acre ranges from 200 

 arrels up to 400. Instances have been known in which 

 lore than GOO barrels of the Mammoth Kale have been 

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

 : aise, requiring not more than half as much fertilizer as 

 tie spinach crop. 



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

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

 j arrowed level and smooth, and as the lands are very 

 -)ose the Kale bed, although it may comprise 100 acres, 

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

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

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

 imes a single row will be sown by itself on a little ridge, 

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



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. 



KALE, SEA. Crambe maritima ; but treated under 

 Sea -Kale. 



KALMIA (after Peter Kalm, Swedish botanist, trav- 

 eled 1748-51 in N. America). Ericaceae. 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, K. 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 



