THOUSAND-HEADED KALE. 



33 



they produce seed the same year and are liable to become serious 

 pests when once introduced. Complaint has been made that Dwarf 

 Essex rape becomes a weed, but it is easily controlled. It does not 

 produce seed until the second season, and if plowed under during the 

 fall, winter, or spring no seed can be produced. 



THOUSAND-HEADED KALE. 



Thousand-headed kale {Brassica oleracea) has been grown in the 

 Willamette Valley for 27 years. It attracted little attention among 

 the dairymen until recent j^ears, but is now rapidly becoming a verj T 

 popular fall and winter soiling crop. It stands the mild winters 



Fig. 2, 



-A field of thousand-headed kale on Martins Island, near Kalama, Wash, 

 winter soiling crop, available from October 1 to April 1. 



A valuable 



west of the Cascade Mountains admirably and is hauled from the 

 field and fed as needed. It does not head up like cabbage, and the 

 name " thousand-headed " is given it on account of the numerous 

 branches the plants have when given plenty of room. It is A 7 ery 

 much like rape, but the plants are much taller and the leaves are 

 longer and broader. A field of this crop is shown in figure 2. It is 

 claimed that kale will yield 30 to 40 tons of green feed per acre 

 when grown under favorable conditions. 



Kale is used for table greens, but its chief use on the Pacific coast 

 is for feeding green to dairy cows from October to April, for which 

 it is highly prized. It would undoubtedly be an excellent winter 



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