THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 



57 



of August, such a quantity only being drawn as are 

 required for use each time. The plant, heing so 

 thoroughly hardy, will be best left in the open ground 

 throughout the winter. 



The young spring-formed shoots are used as a 

 green vegetable. Cut them off so soon as they attain 

 to sufficient size, and before seed-stalks are formed, 

 after which the plants are useless, and should be re- 

 moved to the rubbish-heap. 



Scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica). French, 

 Scorzonhe ; German, Scorzoner ; Italian, Scorzonera. 

 — This plant, known also as "Viper's Grass," is a 

 hardy perennial, a native of several distinct parts 

 of Southern Europe. The 

 roots are pure white with- 

 in, the rind or coating of a 

 black colour, some of the 

 points of the extreme roots 

 being enlarged, or tapering, 

 though the general dia- 

 meter is the same through- 

 out. Owing to this pecu- 

 liarity it has received the 

 name of Viper's Grass, as 

 the roots alone are supposed 

 to resemble that reptile. 



It thrives best in a deep 

 sandy soil, having manure 

 placed at the depth of ten 

 or twelve inches below the 

 surface of the ground 

 only. Sow the seed upon 

 ground so prepared in 

 drills about one and a 

 half inches deep, and twelve inches between the 

 rows, early in the month of April. So soon as the 

 plants are large enough, thin them out to six or seven 

 inches apart in the rows, keeping them well and 

 deeply hoed during the whole summer subsequently. 

 The roots are generally large enough for use early m 

 the month of September. Such as remain in the 

 ground until the month of December, take up, and 

 store away for use in the same manner as carrots are 

 stored for winter. This root is often found to be un- 

 duly bitter when cooked ; to neutralise this, scrape 

 off the outer rind, and place them in cold water for 

 an hour or two before cooking. 



Sea-kale {Crmnhe maritima). French, Crambe 

 maritime; German, Seekohl, MeerJcohl ; Spanish, 

 Breton de Mar; Itahan, Crambo. — This is a hardy 

 British perennial, found in many parts of the country, 

 on the shores around our sea-coast. It is generally 

 cultivated for the use of its young shoots in a per- 

 fectly blanched state, and it is a singular fact that it 



has been found and collected for use in such blanched 

 state by the inhabitants resident near our western 

 shores, from a time anterior to any history we possess 

 as to the origin of the practice. Buried beneath the 

 sand blown upon its dormant roots during winter, 

 it pushes up through such sand in the early spring, at 

 which time the inhabitants referred to watch for its 

 advent, and collect the blanched shoots so formed. 



Its successful culture as a permanent crop depends 

 greatly upon the proper preparation of the bed where- 

 in it is to be grown, the site it occupies, and such 

 perfect drainage as insures to the root-base immunity 

 from excessive moisture during the winter months. 

 The best site for it is a fully-exposed one, facing 

 the south, and if with pro- 

 tection from easterly and 

 north - easterly winds so 

 much the better. The soil 

 should be trenched to a 

 depth of at least two feet 

 or more, preparatory for 

 seed- sowing or root-plant- 

 ing, both being employed 

 more or less, as may be 

 most convenient. 



An inhabitant of the 

 sea-shores, it delights in a 

 sandy soil. "Where, there- 

 fore, sea-sand can be pro- 

 cured it should be used 

 abundantly in forming the 

 bed. And it is well to ob- 

 serve that a bed, well made 

 and planted, will continue 

 to give excellent crops for 

 eight and even twelve years. The writer has, indeed, 

 maintained a bed, with its original plants, in full 

 bearing for fourteen years, even though he forced the 

 plants upon this bed by the aid of fermenting mate- 

 rials each year during that period. 



Where sea-sand is not obtainable the existing 

 soil must be treated more or less in accordance with 

 its native lightness or tenacity, as the case may 

 happen to be. Very light soils resting on gravel, or 

 a porous subsoil, will certainly be benefited by the 

 addition of stiff soil to it, and abundant manure 

 buried at the bottom of each trench, and in successive 

 strata, though intermixed with the soil as much as 

 possible throughout. Such soils, even when they 

 have been prepared thus far, being naturally poor 

 and light, should also have a good dressing of decayed 

 manure spread over the surface, and forked in, even 

 after the trenching work has been finished. 



Heavy, tenacious soils will be benefited by the 

 addition of road- scrapings, any kind of sand ob- 

 tained locally, and old dry mortar rubbish, along 



Sea-kale. 



