648 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



to stand, in good, well-dug, and well-manured soil, and at a distance 

 of 2 ft. 8 in. from one another in every direction, as the plants grow 

 to a pretty large size. In the first year the young plants attain a 

 certain degree of strength, and may be cut for use in the ensuing 

 winter, if a supply is badly needed. It is better, however, not to 

 commence cutting until the second year. In raising plants from 

 seed, the seed is sown either in a seed-bed or where the plants are 

 to stand. In either case, it should be sown as soon as possible 

 after it ripens and without being shelled. When the young plants 

 in the seed-bed have made four or five leaves, they are planted out 

 permanently, at the same distance from one another as the cuttings 

 of the roots above mentioned. In sowing where the plants are to 

 stand, the seed is placed in holes or pockets, which also should 

 be the same distance apart as the root-cuttings. These pockets 

 should be well filled with compost, and the ground should be kept 

 very free from weeds. The growing plants should be frequently 

 watered until they have attained their full size. When they are 

 sufficiently strong, and out of danger from the black flea {Haltica 

 nemorum), all the seedlings in each pocket are pulled up except the 

 strongest one, which is left to grow, and during the remainder of 

 the year and the whole of the following years the plants are treated 

 in exactly the same way as plants raised from root-cuttings. They 

 will not be fit to cut for use until the spring of the third year, and 

 after that they will continue to bear for eight or ten years. 



In order to blanch Sea-kale, each crown of the plant is covered 

 with an inverted flower-pot, care being taken to stop the hole in the 

 bottom so as to entirely exclude the light, and the pot is also more 

 or less covered with soil or dry leaves. If it is desired to force the 

 plants, the pots should be completely covered with suitable manure, 

 and in a few weeks the shoots will be sufficiently grown for use. 

 In gathering them, there need be no hesitation in cutting them at 

 some distance below the blanched part, as the root-stock has always 

 a tendency to grow overground. Plants may also be forced in a 

 hot-house, hot-bed, or an^ other place supplying artificial heat. 

 For this purpose the plants are taken up entire, and replanted close 

 to one another in fresh sand. As with plants grown in the open 

 air, the shoots should be covered, either with more sand, or in any 

 other way so as to exclude the light. Care should be taken to 

 cover the plants with soil every year, to prevent the roots from 

 becoming bared. In order to maintain the vigour of the plants, 

 some shoots should be left uncut on each plant, and these should 

 not be allowed to flower, as the plant would thereby be more or less 

 exhausted for nothing. It is advisable to go over the plants every 

 autumn and remove all dead leaves and weak and superfluous 

 shoots, and also to spread some light soil or compost over any parts 

 of the ground where the roots of the plants are becoming bared. 



