SEA-KALE. 151 



or frosty weather. As the plants develop much less 

 rapidly than those of the Common Cabbage, the seed 

 should be sown early. 



Transplant in rows two and a half or three feet apart, 

 and allow a space of two feet and a half between the plants 

 in the rows. 



SEA-KALE. 



Crambe maritima. 



Of Sea-kale there is but one species cultivated ; and this 

 is perennial, and perfectly hardy. The leaves are large, 

 thick, oval or roundish, sometimes lobed on the borders, 

 smooth, and of a peculiar bluish-green color ; the stalk, 

 when the plant is in flower, is solid and branching, and 

 measures four feet in height ; the flowers, which are pro- 

 duced in groups, or clusters, are white, and have an odor 

 very similar to that of honey. The seed is enclosed in a 

 yellowish-brown shell, or pod, which, externally and inter- 

 nally, resembles a pit, or cobble, of the common cherry. 

 Six hundred seeds, or pods, are contained in an ounce ; and 

 they retain their germinative powers three years. " They 

 are large and light, and, when sold in the market, are often 

 old, or imperfectly formed ; but their quality is easily 

 ascertained by cutting them through the middle : if sound, 

 they will be found plump and solid." They are usually 

 sown without being broken. 



Preparation of the Ground, and Sowing. The ground 

 should be trenched to the depth of from a foot to two feet, 

 according to the depth of the soil, and well enriched 

 throughout. The seeds may be sown in April where the 

 plants are to remain ; or they may be sown at the same 

 season in a nursery-bed, and transplanted the following 

 spring. They should be set or planted out in rows three 



