784 TETRADYNAMIA. SILIQUOSA. Brassica. 
B. olera'cea. Root a regular continuation of the stem, cylindrical, 
fleshy : (all the leaves smooth, glaucous, waved, and lobed. E.) 
( E . Bot. 637. E.) 
{Root caulescent some height above ground. Plant one foot to eighteen 
inches high, or more. Stem-leaves rather thick, very much waved, and 
variously indented, sea-green, with frequently a mixture of purple, the 
lower somewhat egg-shaped, sessile; the upper mostly strap-shaped. 
Flowers in long clusters, large, yellow. Calyx leaves egg-shaped, broad, 
yellow. Pods short, tumid, without a beak. E.) Seeds dusky purple. 
Sea Colewort. Sea Cabbage. Cliffs on the sea coast. Near Harlech 
Castle, Merionethshire; Penzance, and other places in Cornwall. Hud¬ 
son. Abundantly on the sea cliffs at Staiths, near Whitby, Yorkshire. 
Mr. Robson. (Rocks at Tynemouth Castle. Winch Guide. E.) Inch- 
Keith and Inch-Colm. Maughan. Grev. Edin. Abundant on Dover Cliffs, 
along the coast towards Hythe. E.) B. May—June. E.)* * 
B. monen'sis. (Leaves glaucous, wing-cleft, cut-serrated: stem nearly 
water to accelerate its vegetation. Turnips are also obnoxious to concealed spoilers, which 
revel in the interior of the roots, as the formidable wire worm; and the small knobs or 
tubercles, in some places called Anbury , having the appearance of disease, are in fact the 
nidus of grubs, probably those of Curculio contractus, or Rynchcenus assimilis. E.) 
The Roota-Baga , or Swedish Turnip, is generally considered to be a hybrid between 
the Turnip and Cabbage, hardy, ponderous, and nutritious, but by some suspected to be a 
distinct species. The Agricultural Society bestowed their premium for the cultivation of a 
field of Turnips grown near Cardiff, in which the roots averaged, one with another, from 20 
to 30 pounds weight. (Dr. Blair, in his Essays, gives the following curious account 
of the wonderful powers of vegetation in Turnips. Seed sown July 2, l'/02, appeared 
above ground in three days; on Aug. 12, one of them weighed two pounds fourteen 
ounces. An ounce of the seed contained a thousand grains : one of these seeds increased 
67 J ,600 times its own weight in six weeks, 111,933 in one week, 666 in every hour, 
and eleven times its own weight in a single minute! E.) 
* Early in the spring the Sea Cabbage is preferred*to the cultivated kinds; but, when 
gathered on the sea coast, it must be boiled in two waters, to take away the saltness. 
(When blanched, ( Sea Kale), it is an elegant and acceptable winter vegetable. E.) The 
roots may be eaten like those of the preceding species, but they are not so tender. The 
different varieties of cultivated garden Cabbage originate from this, all of which are much in 
use at our tables. The red Cabbage is chiefly used for pickling. In some countries the white 
Cabbages are buried when full grown in the autumn, and thus preserved all winter. The 
Germans cut them in pieces, and, along with some aromatic herbs and salt, press them 
close down in a tub, where they soon ferment, and are then eaten under the name of Sour 
Crout.—(Thus taken, it is supposed to discuss the tendency to scorbutic disorders, and, in 
the form of cataplasm, may be advantageously applied to the breasts to prevent the 
coagulation of the milk. E.) The Cabbage whilst young is food for Chrysomela 
salt at aria, and afterwards for Papilio Brassica. The former may be kept off by strew¬ 
ing the ground with soot; and it is said that the latter will not touch the plants if 
they be whipped with the green bough of elder. If Cabbages be sowed or planted for several 
years together in the same soil, the heads become smaller, and the roots knotty. This is 
occasioned by the larvae of flies, (and the Tipula oleracea. E.)—A horse eat the leaves, 
but did not seem fond of them. St. Cows grow fat upon them. (The Drum-head 
Cabbage is usually transplanted into the fields, and grows to an enormous size, and is very 
profitable.—In the Georgical Essays, Cabbage, particularly the Scotch kind, is strongly 
recommended as an excellent food for cattle, and substitute for hay. Autumn-sowed 
plants produce a much heavier crop than those sowed in Spring.-—It would appear from 
Athenaeus that even the homely Cabbage has not always been exempt from superstitious 
homage, especially in Ionia, whose inhabitants were aocustomed on solemn occasions to 
swear by the (( prophetic ” or “ sacred Cabbage / ” E.) 
