THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, February 17, 1857. 339 
come this difficulty, dig a trench on each side of the bed, 
and fill that trench with hot dung, placing a frame 
covered with glass over the plants. This is not a had 
plan, hut expensive; the frames cost a considerable 
sum, and the glass is liable to he broken, though, to 
remedy that, broad hoards might be substituted for the 
glass. If they fitted tight the light would be excluded, 
especially with the additional covering of a mat. This 
method is also troublesome,—the wheeling out the soil 
and the number of frames requisite for a moderate 
supply, the placing them on and shifting from time to 
time to force different sections of the bed, to insure a 
supply for a whole season, would be such an amount of 
labour that the Kale would hardly repay it. 
I was once gardener at a place in the north, and the 
family requiring a considerable quantity of both Sea- 
kale and Asparagus, and, besides that, each of these 
vegetables, when forced with dung, being thought by the 
lady to have a flavour of it, I, in consequence, deter¬ 
mined to try a plan that I thought would obviate all the 
above-mentioned disadvantages, besides having a much 
cleaner appearance. 
c c c c c c 
Ground 
a 
b 
Cl 
b 
a 
Level. 
Dung 
2 feet 
Plants 
2 feet 
Dung 
2 feet 
Plants 
2 feet 
Dung 
2 feet 
Section of a Forcing Sea-kale Bed. 
2 feet 
Dung. 
a 
2 feet 
Bed for 
plants. 
b 
2 feet 
Dung. 
a 
2 feet 
Bed for 
plants. 
b 
2 feet 
Dung. 
a 
Ground Plan.-Sea-kale Bed. 
In the first place I fixed upon a piece of ground in 
the kitchen garden quite exposed to the full light of the 
sun; I then had all the soil wheeled out to the depth of 
two feet; the bottom was a red sand. I then set out 
the piece of ground into five divisions of two feet each, 
as may be seen in the annexed sketch: a, places for dung 
or leaves; b, space for the plants; c, brick walls, a brick 
laid fiat thick; d, cross walls — the four inside ones 
pigeon-holed, the two outer ones solid. The two beds 
were thirty feet long. The walls were allowed to stand 
till they were dry and firm. At about every seven feet 
cross walls were built to keep the longitudinal ones 
erect. On the beds intended for the plants a layer of 
brick ends and broken stones was placed, six inches 
thick, for drainage; upon that I placed a layer of brush¬ 
wood, chopped short, so that it would lie pretty solid, 
and upon that a layer of thin turf, with the grassy side 
downwards. The remaining space was filled up with 
fresh turfy loam, tolerably mixed with well-decomposed 
hotbed dung and sand. This was done in August, so 
that by the time the planting season arrived it had 
settled to the height I intended it to be finally. In 
order to get to the plants readily I had a row of inch 
deal planks laid on the cross walls in the spaces marked 
a. In the month of March following I procured some 
strong one-year-old plants, and planted them in two 
rows, six inches from the walls, and fifteen inches from 
plant to plant in the row. It will be observed that the 
walls stand about a foot higher than the general level of 
the garden ground. That part I had built solid, that is, 
without pigeon-holes. This space, for a month previous 
to forcing, was intended to he filled with sand about 
seven inches thick. This was for the purpose of blanch¬ 
ing the Kale and keeping it compact. As soon as the 
leaves decayed in the autumn I cleared them off one 
half of one of the beds, which, of course, was fifteen feet. 
I placed the sand over the crowns, and filled the spaces 
on each side with hot dung. When frosty weather came 
on the bed was covered with shutters resting upon the 
walls. The heat from the dung set the roots in action, 
and, consequently, the crowns began to move also. To 
the best of my recollection this portion was set to work 
about the 1st of December, and I remember perfectly I 
cut excellent Kale for Christmas-day. The other por¬ 
tions of the two beds were forced in three successive lots, 
and supplied the family up to May. The experiment 
answered my most sanguine expectations. The Kale 
was thick, compact, and as white as snow, and, I was 
assured, of most delicious flavour. As soon as the Kale 
was all cut the sand was removed and laid by for the 
next year, the ground was forked over, and the plants 
allowed to spring again in the open air, only thinning 
the shoots to three to each crown. This was done more 
than twenty years ago. I left the place soon after, and 
have not seen it since, though I am informed the family 
have gone abroad, and the gardens are broken up. 
Now, if I had to form another bed I would heat it 
with a series of hot-water pipes, and would place them 
in a chamber directly under the beds of plants; I should 
then have had five beds of plants instead of two, and, 
consequently, a much greater supply of the vegetable. 
The supply for the last month of the season for Kale 
does not require forcing at all; indeed, the difficulty is 
the other way. It will grow in spite of your teeth, and 
push through the covering. For this season I never 
used any covering excepting sand or ashes. The lot 
for this season I grew in ordinary beds in the garden. 
I have thought since the period might be prolonged by 
planting a small quantity for the very purpose on a 
north border. 
Sea-kale for forcing in the ordinary way is generally 
thrust behind the garden in any out-of-the-way place, 
because, when covered up, it looks like a common dung¬ 
hill, and is very offensive to delicate olfactory nerves; 
therefore I earnestly recommend, in forming new gar¬ 
dens, the adoption of a plan something like the one I 
have endeavoured to describe. T. Appleby. 
LAWSON’S GARDENER’S KALENDAR.* 
The only objection we can take to this excellent broad¬ 
sheet is, that it appears too late; but, late as it is, it is never¬ 
theless equally welcome. Like its predecessor of last year 
it is in the tabular form, and mounted on a roller, and is 
altogether a decided improvement on it, the subjects chosen 
being more generally useful to the class for which it is 
intended. It is illustrated with a well-executed view of the 
great Palm House at Kew, and among the information 
which it affords we find such subjects as the Barometer, 
Comparative Scales of the Thermometer, the Earth’s 
Motions, Classification of Clouds, the usual Tables of 
Weights and Measures, and many other useful tables. We 
most cordially recommend this excellent broadsheet as a 
useful ornament for every garden establishment. 
* Lawson's Gardener’s Kalendar for the Year 1857. Peter Lawson 
and Son, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh, and 27, Great George Street, 
Westminster. 
