288 THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 



if the natural beach-grown kale requires two boilings 

 to extract any disagreeable taste, coal ashes will 

 certainly require three or four. 



After the crowns are finished, the pots (which 

 may now be had at any of the potteries) should be 

 put over them, and sunk a little way in the earth, 

 carefully covering or stopping the holes, so as to 

 exclude any rank steam from entering ; when that 

 is done, a layer of fermenting materials, composed 

 of fresh stable dung or litter, with a third of de- 

 cayed leaves (if they can be had), should be spread 

 all over each pot to the depth of fifteen or twenty 

 inches, which thickness should be regulated ac- 

 cording to the state of the weather, but taking care 

 not to make the heat too strong, in case of injuring 

 the young shoots by drawing them up in a weak 

 state ; for, if a temperature of heat from 55 to 60 

 can be kept up, it will be quite sufficient for bring- 

 ing this vegetable to a full growth for use. In a 

 week or ten days after the pots are covered, the 

 bed should be examined ; and if found to be of too 

 great a heat, the covering for a few days should be 

 diminished, or, if otherwise, augmented; and as a 

 necessary precaution to guard against any sudden 

 dullness, which often arises from heavy rains or 

 snow, a temporary covering of dry litter or fern 

 should be thrown over the bed or ridge, which will 

 be found a security against any sudden variation in 

 the temperature of the atmosphere. 



If in about three weeks from the time the covering 

 begins to heat, and, upon examining a pot or two, the 

 plants are found to have sprouts from six to eight 

 inches in length, they may be cut for use, which is 



