BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 
BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 
Chou de Bruxelles agets. Brassica oleracea. 
This plant frequently grows from three to five feet high, 
eitd produces from the stem small heads resembling cabbages 
in miniature, each being from one to two inches in diameter. 
The top of the plant resembles the Savoy, when planted late. 
The sprouts are used as winter greens, and they become 
very tender when touched by the frost. 
The seed may be sown about the middle of May, in the 
same manner as Borecole, and the plants set out. with a dib- 
ble qarly in July. The subsequent treatment must be in 
every respect as for Borecole. 
Some gardeners, with a view to furnish the New-York 
markets with greens early in the spring season, when vege- 
tables in general are scarce, cultivate the common Rape, 
( Brassica Rapus ;) it being a good substitute r Brussels 
Sprouts, which are not always attainable after a hard winter. 
If Rape seed be sown early in September, the plants will 
survive an ordinary winter, and produce top shoots or sprouts 
early ; but it is best sown as soon as the ground is suscepti- 
ble of cultivation in the spring, say the last week in March. 
The sprouts should be cut while young, as such greens then 
command the best prices, and are more palatable than when 
far advanced in growth. 
It may be necessary to add that, in cooking these sprouts 
as also Kale, Colewort, and greens in general, they should 
be put int :> hot water, seasoned with salt, and kept boiling 
briskly until tender. If it be an object to preserve then 
natural colour, put a small lump of pearlash into the water, 
which also makes the coarser kinds of cabbage more tendei 
in the absence of meat. 
