SEAKALE. 



199 



but the continued existence of the plant depends. Com- 

 mon, salt applied dry, in autumn, at the rate of even 

 thirty bushels per acre, or watering the plants with a brine 

 made with four ounces of salt to the gallon, applied around 

 the roots in summer, is a very beneficial application. The ^ 

 situation must be free from all shade of trees. Sea kale 

 is propagated by seeds, or offsets, or cuttings of the root; 

 but the best plants are raised from seed. Sow the seed in 

 a well prepared soil, rich, or made so with well decomposed 

 manure, and shaded by a fence, or building, from the mid- 

 day sun. Draw the drills one foot apart, and scatter the 

 seed thinly along the drills. The beds should be about 

 four feet wide, for convenience. Put in the seed from 

 October to the middle of March, but December and Janu- 

 ary are the best months. Before inserting the seed, bruise 

 the outer coat, but without injuring its vegetating power. 

 By this practice, germination will be accelerated. The 

 plants are very slow in appearing ; never less than three 

 weeks, often four or five months, and sometimes a full 

 year. "Water plentifully in dry weather, and keep the 

 seed-beds free from weeds during the season. Thin the 

 plants, as they appear, to an inch apart, and, as they grow 

 strong, to two or three inches. The great difficulty in 

 raising sea kale is in getting good, healthy, acclimated 

 plants, to form the beds. The seed are difficult to vege- 

 tate, and, after they do come up, apt to die off during the 

 summer. In the autumn, when their leaves decay, clear 

 them away and earth them up about the crowns with an 

 inch or two of soil from the alleys, or leaf-mould from the 

 woods, and cover over the whole bed, four inches deep, 

 with long litter, and leave it to stand until the time of 

 transplanting. 



If you have been successful in raising your plants, in 

 the latter part of the February ensuing, prepare your per- 



