256 SEA-KALE. 



and it is only in spring, after the weather has begun to moderate, 

 that we can hope to get up heat enough to start it into growth. 



A hed of Sea-Kale is started either hj procuring the plants 

 from some gardener, or by raising them from seed. Some sow 

 the seed where the plants are intended to remain, but the better 

 way is to prepare a small bed in which the seed is to be sown, 

 and grow the plants for a year in this bed. The seed cannot be 

 relied upon after it is two years old. The bed should he 

 prepared by mating the soil fine and rich, and the seed sown 

 thinly in drills about an iach deep and a foot apait. The plants 

 should be thinned out to about an iach apart as soon as they 

 appear, and when they are well established, thinned again to 

 thiee inches apart. During the summer the ground should be 

 frequently stirred and kept free from weeds. In autumn the 

 plants should be covered with five or six inches of eaith and 

 some coarse litter. 



The next spring, as soon as the ground can be worked, a 

 piece of deep, rich, sandy soil should be selected, ploughed and 

 subsoiled to the depth of fifteen inches. Upon this the plants 

 should be set out in rows three feet apart, and two feet apart in 

 the row. In planting, the crowns should be set not less than 

 two inches below the surface. During the summer the ground 

 must be kept clean by frequent hoeings, and if dry weather 

 sets in, the plants will need watering. The plants must not be 

 allowed to run up to seed, but the seed stalks kept cut down as 

 often as they appear. At the approach of winter, the ground 

 should be covered to such a depth with coarse manure, or leaves 

 or straw, as wiH keep out the frost. Salt is a good fertilizer for 

 this vegetable, strewn over ^;he ground ia the spring in moderate 

 quantity. 



After the weather becomes mild, usually towards the end of 

 March, the covering should be removed from as many plants as 

 it is desired to force into early growth, and a twelve-inch flower- 

 pot inverted over each plant; or, instead of pots, we have some- 

 times seen boxes used. Over these pots or boxes fermenting 



