THE KOHL RABI. 333 



may be got from land where good swedes could not be 

 grown. Although, however, the kohl rabi will grow in heavy 

 soils, it is essential that they should be well cultivated; 

 the crop requires heavy manuring, as much as 25 to 30 

 tons of farm-yard dung to the acre, while an addition of 

 6 or 8 cwt. of good superphosphate will be an improvement. 

 Common salt is an essential manure to the crop, and of 

 this 2 cwt. per acre should be used. Like all the brassiea 

 tribe, ashes will be found an excellent manure ; these may 

 be added to the salt, well mixed up. Where superphos- 

 phate is not used, guano may be substituted, phospho 

 guano will give excellent results ; in some soils it will be 

 found to surpass Peruvian guano. 



135. The kohl rabi may be cultivated in one of two 

 ways, transplanting from plants grown in a seed-bed, or 

 by drilling, the same as in the turnip crop. Mr. Bennett, 

 a successful grower of the crop, finds drilling to be the 

 best. He drills " on the fallows in ridges towards the mid- 

 dle of the month and at the rate of two pounds of seed 

 per acre. The drills are 27 inches apart, and the plants 

 are thinned out to distances of 16 inches." In cleaning the 

 ridges and hoeing the thinned plants, care should be taken 

 to have dry weather. Messrs. Lawson recommend the 

 system of transplanting as the best, and experience cer- 

 tainly seems to be in favour of it. Eight ounces of seed 

 sown in a well-prepared highly-manured seed-bed, will 

 grow sufficient plants to do an acre, the drills of which are 

 27 inches apart, and the plants placed in the drills at dis- 

 tances of 15 inches. In place of broadcasting the seed in 

 the seed-bed, it will be found by far the best plan to drill 

 it in drills 9 inches wide ; this will enable the small hoe 

 to be used to stir up the soil and clean it between the 

 drills, and thus secure a superior lot of plants for trans- 

 planting. The time for sowing the seed in seed-bed is the 

 first week of March ; this will give plants ready for trans- 

 planting early in May, by which time the general land 

 should be prepared for the reception of the plants. As 

 many of the plants may fail in transplanting, it will be 



