SEA KALE. 109 



SEA KALE. 



* 



Sea Kale is a most delicious vegetable, which sooner or 

 later will certainly be extensively cultivated in this coun- 

 try. It belongs to the same family as the cabbage. Its 

 shoots only are eaten, and that only after being forced or 

 blanched. It is a good deal of work to produce sea kale 

 in perfection, but when properly grown, it is as tender as 

 asparagus arid as mild as cauliflower. Our climate is 

 well adapted for its production in abundance, and of the 

 choicest quality. When grown from seed, mark out the 

 bed into rows three feet apart, then run a fifteen or 

 eighteen-inch marker across the rows, and put a dozen 

 seeds where the lines cross, and cover half an inch deep. 

 When the plants appear, hoe, weed, and thin, leaving 

 three or four plants in each hill. 



Sea Kale is a perennial plant, and when the bed is 

 once made, it will last for many years. It is propagated 

 from the roots as well as from seed, and where those can 

 be obtained, a year's time can be saved. When propa- 

 gated from the roots of eld plants, it is usual to cut 

 these into lengths of two or three inches. In early 

 spring, place the pieces in a box in the house or in tbe 

 hot-bed, covering them very lightly with damp moss or 

 light mould. As soon as they start to grow, and the 

 weather is suitable, set out in a bed eighteen by thirty- 

 six inches apart. No crop will be produced the first 

 year, but the second year a few shoots can be removed 

 without weakening the plants; the third year they will 

 produce a full crop. The plant needs protection during 

 the winter. A good plan is, to cover the bed or plants 

 with leaves or manure or leaf-mould ; this will protect the 

 plants, and the shoots, as they push through this cover- 

 ing, will be blanched and be ready for use. If the 

 plants are very vigorous, a greater depth of covering or 

 blanching material will be needed. 



