1883.J 
VMERICAE AGRICULTURIST. 
185 
house. By daily changing the water in which 
they are kept, Sweet Peas will remain fresh 
for several days. They are charming flowers 
for little bouquets, a cluster of them is very 
suitable for the button-hole. 
Sweet Peas should have some support, like 
a trellis. They seem to like brush better 
than anything else. The Morning Glory 
will climb a string, and can be trained where- 
ever desired. The Sweet Pea will make a 
hedge three feet high. It is useful for cov¬ 
Fig. 1. —DWARE-CUBLED KALE. 
ering old fences or stumps. When sending 
an order for flower seeds, do not forget 
to order Morning Glories and Sweet Peas. 
Kale—Its Varieties. 
The wild cabbage of the coasts of Europe 
{Brassica oleracece) has produced a vast num¬ 
ber of varieties. In its wild state it has a 
hard, almost woody stem, between one and 
two feet high, and large wavy leaves, which 
are spreading, and never form anything like 
a head. Seeds gathered from the wild plant 
have produced seedlings differing greatly in 
appearance, showing that the plant has a 
strong tendency to vary. The wild plant is 
eaten, and it has been cultivated from remote 
antiquity. All parts of the plant, save the 
flowers, pods and seeds, have become much 
Fig. 2.—THOUSAND-HEADED KALE. 
modified in cultivation, and the numerous 
varieties are grouped in races, according to 
the part of the plant affected by the varia¬ 
tion. Where the leaves close over one 
another, and form a large terminal bud, we 
have the race of heading cabbages, or the 
varieties commonly called cabbage. If the 
soft part of the leaves of a heading cabbage 
is more developed than the network of veins, 
and the leaves thus present a blistered ap¬ 
pearance, we have the race of Savoy cab¬ 
bages. In some varieties the mid-rib of the 
leaf becomes very large and thick, and that 
of the outer leaves is eaten as well as the 
head. These form the small race called Couve 
Troncliuda, or Portugal Cabbage. When the 
axillary buds along the tall stem develop as 
little heads not larger than a pullet’s egg, we 
have the Brussels sprouts. Tu the Cauli¬ 
flower and Broccoli races, the abortive 
flowers and flower-stems form a succulent 
mass, the “curd,” which in the cauliflowers 
is white, and in the Broccolis usually 
purplish. The Kohl-rabis form a small 
race of half a dozen varieties, in which 
the stump develops in a globular form, J 
and is the edible portion. They are true 
cabbages, and not turnips, as the name 
“Above-ground Turnip” might imply. 
In the race of Kales, also called Bore- 
col, (from the Dutch Boerekool, Peasant 
cabbage,) we have nothing like a head, 
and in some of its varieties there is but 
little departure from the wild form. They 
differ greatly in the hight and character 
of the stem, which sometimes branches, and 
in the size of the leaves and the manner in 
which they are curled. The Kales, in culti¬ 
vation, are treated in two ways. In one they 
are sown in a seed-bed and transplanted like 
late cabbages, and left in the open ground, 
to be cut as wanted during the winter, or any 
time after they have been frozen. The most 
common method is to sow the seed, near 
New York, in August, or early in Septem¬ 
ber, in drills 18 inches apart ; when well up, 
the plants are thinned to six or eight inches. 
Sometimes they are mulched when freezing 
weather sets in. In early spring, they are 
cut and marketed. The variety called Ger¬ 
man Greens is one of the most popular in 
the New York market; the Curled Scotch is 
also grown, and a local variety is sent from 
Norfolk, Ya. Some of the Kales have the 
leaves so much curled and fringed that they 
are really beautiful “foliage plants,” — in¬ 
deed there are several ornamental varieties 
used for garden decoration, in which the 
leaves are both fringed and variously colored, 
some showing green, purple and white on 
the same leaf. Figure 1 shows the Dwarf- 
Curled Kale. The Thousand-headed Kale, 
figure 2, grows three feet or more high, 
and has large, plain leaves, borne upon the 
numerous branches of the main stem. It is 
sometimes eaten, but is of inferior quality, 
and in Europe is cultivated as a forage plant. 
A curious variety is the Marrow Kale, figure 
3, four or five feet tall, with very ample 
leaves and a much enlarged stem, which is 
very tender within and highly relished by 
animals, the stem being really an elongated 
Kolil-rabi. In France the leaves are gathered 
in autumn, and fed as needed, and, on the 
approach of cold weather, the stems are har¬ 
vested and placed under shelter for winter 
use. The giant of this race is the Jersey Kale, 
Tree Cabbage, or Cow Kale, figure 4. This 
is ordinarily six or eight feet high, but some¬ 
times ten or twelve, and has been known to 
reach sixteen feet. On the Island of Jersey 
every farmer has a patch of this kale. The 
leaves are there used to wrap the rolls of 
butter for market, and are fed to the pigs. 
The stems become very hard and woody, and 
when tall answer as rafters for sheds and 
out-buildings. Each stranger who visits the 
Island is quite sure to carry away a cane 
made of a cabbage-stem as a memento of his 
visit. In the villages the sign, “Maker of 
* Jersey Cabbage Canes,” is not uncommon. 
They are light and strong, and, when mounted 
Fig. 3.—THE MARHOIV KALE. 
and varnished, look unlike a cabbage stump. 
Frequent cultivation is a good substitute 
for manure but pays much better with ma¬ 
nure than without. This we have tried on 
garden crops, especially potatoes, cabbage, 
beans, onions, and other root crops. An old 
saw has come down to us from the fathers, 
that he who would have early cabbage 
sprouts must hoe them every morning before 
breakfast. We have tried this in spring time 
for mornings enough to prove that it is not 
Fig. 4.—THE JERSEY KALE OR TREE CABBAGE. 
one of the old wives fables. In the early- 
morning the dew is on, and this is charged 
with an available amount of ammonia, which, 
of course feeds the roots below. If the sur¬ 
face is neglected, a crust forms, and the air 
does not circulate in the soil. 
