168 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDEXIXG. 



mately. Mould the rows up when the plants com- 

 mence growing freely, and continue to hoe amongst 

 them as frequently as needful to keep the surface of 

 the soil somewhat free. During arid periods, about 

 midsummer, it is very advantageous to give artificial 

 aid occasionally in the form of manurial waterings. 

 These, if given at aU, should he copious, and when 

 once commenced should he continued weekly duiing 

 the continued prevalence of dry weather. 



Early and fine-grown plantations often commence 

 to shed their lower leaves towards autumn. It is a 

 good practice, when this is observed, to go carefully 

 through the plantation and remove such as will 

 part freely from the stems, clearing them right away. 

 By this means air and the remaining influences of 

 autumn sunshine 

 will penetrate more 

 f reel)'' and rip en them 

 better, hastening the 

 production of the 

 sprouts from above 

 the axi] 5 of past and 

 present leaves. 



The practice some- 

 times followed of 

 removing the heads 

 off the entire plants 

 at the approach of 

 winter, under the 

 fancy that better 

 sprouts are pro- 

 duced, is a fallacious 

 one. Doing so causes 

 injury to the crowns, 

 limits the , succes- 

 sional supply, and hurries such sprouts as do exist 

 to the flowering stage unduly. 



The produce of Continental seeds is as merito- 

 rious as any; English seeds from selected growths 

 being good when procurable. For large sprouts the 

 Rosebery may be grown with advantage. Approved 

 varieties comprise — Aigburth, Rosebery, and the 

 Wroxton. 



Borecole, or Kale (Brassica oJeracea). French, 

 Chou vert; German, Blatter Kohl; Spanish, Bre- 

 ton. — Borecoles have generally of late years been 

 called Kales. They consist of curled-leaved varieties 

 of the Cabbage tribe, not given to heart in any 

 degree, and stand midway between the single- 

 hearted Cabbage and the multiple-hearting Brussels 

 Sprouts. They are esteemed as tender vegetables, 

 possessing the merit of great hardihood, and are 

 used mostly in the early spring months, when 

 " greens " generally are scarce. Their culture is 

 simple, and similar to that of preceding crops, ex- 



cepting that they may be planted more thickly 

 together, and that they grow freely in all kinds 

 of t^oil. 



Dwarf curled varieties, called both Scotch, and 

 German Buda, and an intermediate form named 

 " Cottager's Kale," from which spring some singular 

 variegated-leaved forms, are all more or less grown 

 and appreciated. The young crown shoots and 

 leaves are first used, and then the side-shoots which 

 succeed them. 



The best varieties comprise — Asparagus, Cottager's 

 Kale or Buda, Dwarf Green Curled, and Variegated, 

 which is used for garnishing purposes. One variety 

 of the latter, Melville's Garnishing, so far exceeds 

 most others in the richness and variety of its vivid 



colouring, that it is 

 pften raised in con- 

 siderable quantities 

 late in the autumn, 

 for planting out in 

 winter gardens and 

 shrubberies for its 

 decorative effect. 

 Viewed from a dis- 

 tance no plants can 

 compete with them 

 in colour throughout 

 the winter and early 

 spring. Some even 

 appreciate them so 

 highly as to use the 

 richly - coloured 

 leaves for table and 

 other decorative 

 purposes, and there 

 really are occasions when they look exceedingly 

 appropriate. 



The Asparagus Kale, and another variety much 

 prized by some, the Couve Tronchuda— more of a 

 Cabbage than a Kale — differ widely from others, 

 and while among the hardiest and sweetest Kales for 

 winter and spring use, are often either taken up and 

 placed in Mushroom-houses, or other warm places in 

 the dark, and fresh growth forced, which can hardly 

 be distinguished from Sea-kale. Or the plants may 

 have pots placed over their crowns where they 

 stand, and a few warm leaves or a little manure 

 built up round them to force the fresh growth. 



Cabbage {Brassica oleracea^^ox.capitatd). French, 

 Cabus, or Choti. pomme ; G-evman, Xopf/io hi ; Italian, 

 Cavolo ; Spanish, Repollo. — The popular and abun- 

 dantly cultivated Cabbage is a biennial plant, in- 

 habiting in its normal form the sea- shores of both 

 England and Scotland. Known originally, doubt- 

 less, as " Colewort," it has been gradually improved 



Borecole, Curled "Wls-tee. 



