BRASSICACEOUS PLANTS. — THE SEA-KALE. 



103 



or by any other means most convenient 

 at hand. The drier, however, they are 

 kept, under such circumstances, the bet- 

 ter. They have also been kept for seve- 

 ral weeks by being taken up when quite 

 dry, the leaves folded over the flowers, 

 and the whole buried in a trench in a 

 dry soil. It is well in doing so to place 

 them tops undermost, leaving a small 

 portion of the roots above ground, which 

 serves to draw them up by when wanted. 



When the heads are cut and dressed 

 for the kitchen, the stems should be cut 

 off close under the flower, all the leaves 

 removed, excepting two or three of the 

 very young embryo leaves which are next 

 to the head ; these are dressed along with 

 the flower, and make a better appearance 

 on the table. If caterpillars are trouble- 

 some, place the flowers in a pail of clean 

 water with a handful of salt for a couple 

 of hours in the vegetable-house, before 

 sending them to the kitchen. This will 

 dislodge any insects that may have taken 

 shelter within the flower. 



It often happens that one or other of 

 these expedients may be useful even for 

 prolonging summer crops, when the one 

 crop does not follow immediately that 

 preceding it, or during dry summers, 

 when the principal crops become likely 

 to be exhausted before the next comes in. 



Approved sorts and their qualities. — The cauli- 

 flower, unlike its ally the broccoli, has, by some 

 not easily understood cause, remained pretty 

 constant to what we may suppose was its ori- 

 ginal state. For long we had only presented to 

 us in seed-lists the early and late cauliflowers. 

 These, however, have had some additions made 

 to them — if even only nominal ones, we may be 

 thankful, seeing how we cultivators are beset 

 with such long lists of names, as a reference to 

 the articles Pea, Bean, and Broccoli will abun- 

 dantly show. 



1. Early London white; 2. Early Dutch; 5. 

 London particular; 4. Fine late; 5. Large Asia- 

 tic; 6. Large late German; 7. Walcheren; 8. Mer- 

 cer's new pearly; 9. New dwarf late Cyprian; 

 10. Epps's superb; 11. Early cauliflower; 12. 

 Early Ley den— are all names to be found in seed- 

 lists. Concerning the merits of Nos. 3, 5, 7, 8, 

 9, 10, 11, and 12, Mr Thomson says Nos. 3, 8, 

 9, 10, and 11 appear to be all the same, and 

 to these we have little fear in adding Nos. 1 and 

 2. He believes 1 and 12 to be identical with 

 Legg's Walcheren broccoli. His conclusion is, 

 that two varieties — namely, the large Asiatic and 

 Walcheren— are found to be those most deserv- 

 ing of cultivation. The true Walcheren is dis- 

 tinguished from all others by its bluntly-rounded 

 and broad leaves, and the closeness and almost 

 snowy whiteness of its heads, even when grown 



to a large size. It is most difficult to procure 

 genuine seed of this variety. Those who are 

 fortunate enough to procure it once should, if 

 possible, save the seed themselves. For man- 

 ner of doing so, vide end of this chapter. 



§ 8. — THE SEA-KALE. 



Natural history. — Sea-kale (Crambe maritima) 

 belongs to the natural order Cruciferee, and Lin- 

 nesen class Tetradynia, and order Siliquosae. 

 The name Crambe is derived from the Greek 

 name for sea-cabbage. 



Although of comparatively modern cultiva- 

 tion in Britain, the date of the introduction of 

 this vegetable into our gardens is not correctly 

 known. Mr Curtis states, upon the authority 

 of Jones of Chelsea, that he (Jones) saw bundles 

 of it in a cultivated state exposed in 1753 in the 

 Chichester market in Sussex. Mr Maher, in a 

 communication in the "London Horticultural 

 Society's Transactions," vol. i, asserts that sea- 

 kale was known in this country above 240 years 

 ago ; and that it was used by the inhabitants of 

 the sea-coast as a common dish, is stated by 

 both Parkinson and Bryant. The former flou- 

 rished about 1629, which is the date of the pub- 

 lication of his " Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Ter- 

 restris ;" the latter somewhere about 1783, when 

 he published " Flora Disetetica." Strange as it 

 may appear, sea-kale plants were sent from this 

 country by Lobel and Turner, 250 years ago, to 

 the Continent, where, at this day, in many parts, 

 gardeners scarcely know it by name. It is now 

 pretty common in the Paris markets, but we 

 have scarcely seen it in any other ; nor have we 

 met with it in a cultivated state in any way ap- 

 proaching to what is seen even in the neighbour- 

 hood of Edinburgh, where its cultivation was 

 attended to as early as it was in the neighbour- 

 hood of London. Mr Gordon of Fountain Bridge 

 gives sensible directions for its culture in his 

 "Gardeners' Dictionary," published in 1774; 

 and Dr Lettsom, it is well known, only brought 

 it into notice around London in 1767. In 1853, 

 a comparatively small breadth of it is cultivated 

 around our northern metropolis, while around 

 our southern one some hundreds of acres are 

 covered with it. Professor Marty n and Mr Cxir- 

 tis, by their publications, brought it into notice 

 in England. In the south of Europe it is 

 scarcely known ; in the north it is only beginning 

 to be attended to. Several young German and 

 Danish gardeners we have had in the gardens 

 at Dalkeith only recognised it as a botanical 

 plant, never having seen it in a cultivated state. 

 The same taste prevails in America. Our oldest 

 English authority for any knowledge of this 

 plant is Gerard, who gives its native habitats, but 

 says nothing regarding its cultivation. It was 

 known in the time of Pliny to the Romans, who 

 called it Halmyridia ; and although they do not 

 appear to have taken it into cultivation, they 

 used it as a sea provision during long voyages ; 

 gathering it where it grew wild, and cutting it 

 up, they put it in barrels where oil had recently 

 been kept, and these they stopped closely up, 

 so that no air could reach the contents. 



