TURNIP CABBAGE, CHINESE CABBAGE. 



627 



consists of watering when the plants are newly planted, destroying the 

 weeds by hoeing, stirring the soil with a fork, and earthmg up the stems. 

 The very dwarf sorts require no protection in ordinary winters ; but the taller 

 growing kinds are apt to be severely injured by frost, and should either be 

 protected where they stand, or by removal to an open shed, as directed for 

 cauliflower. A mulching of hay, sti-aw, or leaves, or a number of branches 

 w4tli the leaves on, stuck in among the tall-stemmed sorts, is frequently found 

 eflPective. In gathering the heads, they should be cut while they are 

 compact, or as technically expressed before the curd becomes broken, with 

 about six inches of the stalk to each head, and the stems may be left to pro- 

 duce sprouts. 



1381. The Turnip-cabbage, or turnip borecole, B. oleracea Caulo-rapa 

 communis Dec, (Chou-rave, Fr., Kohl Rabbi, Ger.,) is a dwarf-growing 

 plant, with the stem swelled out so as to resemble a turnip above ground, 

 but of a delicate green colour. It is much cultivated in Germany, and even 

 forced for the sake of the stem or turnip, which, taken in a young state, is 

 dressed whole and eaten with sauce, or as vegetables to meat, like turnips or 

 potatoes. In England it is very little used. The seed is sown in early 

 spring, and the plants treated like other borecoles ; the stem or turnip 

 part being gathered while it is quite succulent, and will boil tender. To 

 procure a supply throughout the summer, two or three sowings would 

 require to be made. 



1382. The Chinese Cabbage., B. chinensis L. (Pe-tsai, Chinese; Chou 

 Chinois, Fr.), is an annual, apparently intermediate between the cabbage 

 and the turnip, but with much thinner leaves than the former. It is of much 

 more rapid growth than any of the varieties of the European cabbage — so 

 much so, that when sown at Midsummer it will ripen seed the same season. 

 It has been cultivated and used as greens by M. Vilmorin and a few other 

 persons in the neighbourhood of Paris ; and there are specimens in the 

 Hort. Soc. Garden, but it does not appear likely to become a general 

 favourite. It requires an extremely rich, and rather moist soil. 



1383. General culture and management of the cabbage tribe. In the choice 

 of sub-varieties, it will be borne in mind that the dwarf kinds come soonest 

 into use, and retain heat and moisture better, by the covering which their 

 leaves afford to their stems, and to the soil, than the tall-growing kinds ; 

 but that owing to the shorter period at which, in most cases, they arrive at 

 maturity, they require a richer soil ; while the ramose roots of the tall 

 kinds extend to a greater distance, and consequently are adapted for poorer 

 soil ; and in rich soils for producing larger plants. As all the varieties are 

 biennials, the largest crops will be produced by autumnal plantations, by 

 which longer time is given to the plants to lay up a stock of organisable 

 matter. An ounce of seed of any of the varieties is the usual quantity 

 ordered from seedsmen for small or middle-sized gardens, and half an ounce 

 will be enough where several sub-varieties are sown ; as, for example, of 

 broccoli. The seed comes up in ten days or a fortnight, according to the 

 season. In early spring, when it is desirable to advance the plants as rapidly 

 as possible^, the seed should be sown in light rich soil in a warm situation ; 

 but in autumn, when the great object is to produce plants of firm texture 

 that will resist the winter, a poor, and rather stiff" or clayey soil, is prefer- 

 able. Where the plants are to be transplanted with the dibber, numerous 

 fibrous roots are of little use after the plant is taken up, because they are 



