648 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



SuBSECT. 2. Sea-kale. — Crambe maritima, L. {Eng. JBot. 924.) Tetrad. Siliq. L. 

 and Cruciferce, J. Chou marin, Fr. ; Meerkohl, Ger. ; and Crambio, Ital. 

 S898. The sea-kale is a hardy perennial, found in various parts of our shores. Tlie 

 ^whole plant is smooth, of a beautiful glaucous hue, covered with a very fine meal ; oc- 

 casionally, however, it varies like the wallflower-leaved ten-week stock, with quite green 

 leaves. The radical leaves are large, more or less sinuated and indented, containing in 

 the axil a bud or rudiment of next year's stem. The flower is of a rich white appear- 

 ance, and smells strongly of honey. The common people on the western shores of 

 England have, from time immemorial, been in the practice of watching when the shoots 

 begin to push up the sand or gravel, in March and April ; when they cut off the young 

 shoots and leaf-stalks, then blanched and tender, and boil tliem as greens. The precise 

 period of its introduction to the garden is unknown. Parkinson and Bryant state, that 

 the radical leaves are cut by the inhabitants where the plant grows wild, and boiled as 

 cabbage ; and Jones, of Chelsea, assured the late Curtis, that he saw buodles of it, in 

 a cultivated state, exposed for sale in Chichester market in ] 753. Maher states 

 (Hort. Trans, i.), that the crambe maritima was known and sent from this king- 

 dom to the continent more than two hundred years ago, by Lobel and Turner ; 

 but Miller, in 1731, was the first who wrote upon it professionally. About the 

 year 1767, it was cultivated by Dr. Lettsom, at Grove Hill, and by him brought 

 into general notice in the neighborhood of London. In the Gardener's Dic- 

 tionari/^ published in 1774, by Gordon, at Fountain-bridge, near Edinburgh, di- 

 rections are given for the cultivation of this vegetable, and for blanching it, by covering 

 the beds four inches deep with sand or gravel. Professor Martyn has printed some 

 valuable instructions for its cultivation, from the MS. of the Rev. M. Laurent ; and the 

 late Curtis, by a pamphlet on its culture, has done more to recommend it, and diffuse 

 the knowledge of it, than any of his predecessors. Sea-kale is now a common vegetable 

 in Covent Garden market, and Neill obsei-ves, has even begun to appear on the green- 

 stalls of the Scottish metropolis. But in France it is nearly unknown. Bastien 

 {Manuel du Jardinier, 1807) describes the chou marin d' Angleterre, but he appears to 

 have tried to use the broad green leaves, instead of tlie blanched shoots. Disgusted with 

 his preparation, he denies the merits of sea-kale ; and resigns the plant, with a sneer, to 

 colder climates. When the French gardeners, however, have learned to cultivate it, and 

 especially to force it at mid- winter, it will doubtless soon become a favorite with the 

 Parisians. {Ed. Encyc, art. Hort.) 



3899. Use. The young spring shoots, and the stalks of the unfolding leaves, blanched 

 by rising through the natural ground in a wild state, or by earthing up in gardens, are 

 the parts used ; and when boiled, and dressed like asparagus, are not inferior to that 

 vegetable. They form also an excellent ingredient in soups. Sometimes the ribs of the 

 large leaves are peeled and dressed as asparagus, after the plant has ceased to send up 

 young growths. By forcing, sea-kale may be had in perfection from November till May, 

 a period including all the dead months of the year. It is remarked by Nicol, that vege- 

 tables are seldom improved by forcing, l)ut that sea-kale foiins an exception, the forced 

 shoots produced at mid-winter being more crisp and delicate in flavor than those procured 

 in the natural way in April or May. Sir George Mackenzie (Caled. Hort. Mem. vol. 

 i. 313.) observes, that sea-kale cannot easily be overdone in cooking, and that after being 

 well boiled, it should be thoroughly drained, and then suffered to remain a few minutes 

 before the fire, that a farther portion of moisture may be exhaled. 



3900. Projyagation. Sea-kale is generally and best raised from seed ; of which, if 

 sown to transplant, for a seed-bed four feet by nine, sown in drills a foot apart by eight 

 inches in the row, two ounces will suffice ; if sown to remain, then the same quantity 

 will serve for a plot five feet by fifteen, sown in drills two feet apart. Plantations may 

 also be formed by detaching rooted offset-shoots from established plants, or by cuttings 

 of the roots, leaving about two eyes to each cutting. The last fortnight of March, and 

 the first of April comprises the best time for putting in seed, or cuttings, and removing 

 plants. 



3901. Soil. The native soil of sea-kale is deep sand, sometimes covered or partially 

 interlaminated with alluvial matter from the sea. " Hence," says Abercrombie, " a 

 light, diy, moderately rich mould, of a loose texture, suits it best. A fit soil for it," he 

 adds, " may be composed of one half drift sand, two sixths rich loam, and one third small 

 gravel, road-stuff", or sea-coal ashes. If the loam be not rich, add a little rotten dung." 

 Barton {Caled. Hort. Mem. vol. ii. p. 99.) cultivates sea-kale in " a pretty strong 

 loam, on a ^oose till-bottom, which he previously prepared by trenching, and mixing 

 with it a good portion of vegetable mould from decayed leaves, adding a quantity of 

 river sand." 



3902. Culture. Maher pursues the following mode : " Prepare the ground in De- 

 cember or January, by trenching it two feet and a half deep ; if not that depth naturally. 



