190 THE MANSE GARDEN. 



Blanching may be attained with less trouble if forc- 

 ing be not required. You may have excellent sea- 

 kale in April from drills ridged up with earth ; in 

 which case, every pair of drills must have greater 

 distance for the convenience of mounding, and the 

 plants may be so much closer in the bed. Straw, 

 in contact with the plants, is unsuitable to blanching, 

 as it communicates a bad flavour ; but raked leaves 

 do well, perhaps fern, sand certainly : coal ashes are 

 recommended, but the idea is abominable. Where 

 the plant grows wild, as it does by the seashore in 

 several parts of England, it is gathered in the finest 

 condition, being whitened by the sand which the 

 waves throw out, and which the winds pile gently 

 over its head in the manner of a snow wreath. As 

 the earthen ware of the flowerpot kind is expensive 

 and liable to be broken, the author has long used 

 coarse wooden boxes, or bars of paling along each 

 side of the drill, for keeping the dung from contact, 

 and which at no cost answers perfectly well : loose 

 boards, laid on the top of the boxes or across the 

 bars, admit of inspection ; and light is easily excluded 

 by having the litter more copious. It may be ob- 

 served, that the art of cultivating this plant is an 

 invaluable acquisition to a high climate, where the 

 garden yields so little in winter and spring, and where 

 the coldness, so hurtful to other things, is no hin- 

 derance to this, as more or less stable dung will 

 compensate all the varieties of temperature from the 

 seacost to the height of a thousand feet. 



Spinach As convenient to the sower as it is 

 agreeable to the eater. It comes early in spring, 

 when there is no great plenty. It is not nice as to 



