iJecember 20, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
247 
said of the Jersey Kale or Csesarean Cabbage (B. o. a. 
arborea) not much grown in Britain, but largely so in 
Jersey, where it attains greater dimensions, perhaps, 
than anywhere else. I have noted stems ranging from 
3 ft. to 18 ft. in height, and from 1 in. 6 ins. in 
thickness. They are closely planted in lines, and the 
lower leaves arc pulled off from time to time as food for 
cattle. The side shoots are said by the Islanders to 
make good food. The larger specimens receive special 
cultural attention, and grow for two or three years 
before flowering. The Latin name caulis is particularly 
applicable to this variety. Close planting and the 
habit of pulling off the lower leaves are conducive to the 
elongation of the stem. When the plants cease to be 
useful as food, the stems are collected, and sold at 
4s. a hundred to dealers, who dress them as walking 
sticks. One large dealer sells about £-350 worth of 
these sticks in the course of the season, so that this 
trade may justly be considered as one of the native 
industries of the island. The Flanders Kale is a purple 
leaved variety of the Tree Cabbage or Jersey Kale. It 
is not much cultivated, but is occasionally to be seen in 
plantations of the Jersey Cabbage, often, no doubt, as 
a sport. 
The Egyptian Kale is a very dwarf variety, with 
numerous crowns, smooth, deeply glaucous leaves that 
are almost entire, and strongly resemble those of a 
Swedish Turnip. It throws up numerous succulent 
shoots in spring about 12 ins. long, and these are 
blanched and eaten in the same way as Sea Kale. It 
is often spoken of as Asparagus Kale. This latter 
term is also applied to the Jerusalem Kale or Delaware 
Greens, which differ from Egyptian Kale chiefly in the 
leaves being more of a purple hue, and curled at the 
margins. The Buda Kale runs up with a stem of 
18 ins. to 24 ins. in height, and has smooth, glaucous 
leaves, tinted with purple. Numerous side shoots are 
produced along the stems, and which are used in the 
same way as those of the two above-mentioned varieties. 
The term Asparagus Kale is also applied to this variety, 
as it is to the Portugal Cabbage that will be mentioned 
hereafter. 
Cottagers’ Kale is quite distinct from any of the 
above, growing 2 ft. high, and bearing green or 
purplish leaves more or less curled at the margins or 
nearly plain. In this respect it approaches the Scotch 
or Curled Kale in character, although the Scotch would 
oonsider it rather a mongrel subject, to be avoided as 
likely to spoil the broth. A large quantity of side 
shoots of good quality are, however, produced in spring 
when greens are getting scarce. The Chou de Milan is 
related to the above, as well as to Buda Kale ; and 
from the fact that the leaves are glaucous, slightly 
lobed, and somewhat wrinkled, it would seem to have 
some affinity with the Brussels Sprouts. The side 
shoots, however, form open rosettes, and not firm, 
close-headed sprouts, while they are of rich and delicate 
flavour. It is one of the latest Borecoles to come into 
use. The Chou de Milan of the French is the Savoy. 
Ragged Jack is a dwarf Kale, with deeply glaucous, 
much-lacerated leaves, often curiously proliferous on 
the upper surface. It is hardy, productive, and the 
quality is said to be good, but in Scotland it is mostly 
grown for cattle. 
The Fringed Cabbage (B. o. a. fimbriata), Green 
Borecole, Siberian Borecole, Green Kale of the Scotch, 
or Griine Kohl of the Germans, is at once the most 
valuable and the most universally cultivated of all the 
open-headed Cabbages in one form or other over a great 
part of the northern hemisphere, both in the old and 
new worlds, particularly in Germany, North Britain, 
Labrador and Canada. The reasons for this are its 
value as food, its hardiness, and, to some extent, the 
production of oil from the seeds. About 620 lbs. 
weight of oil are obtained per acre from the Borecole. 
The latter name means northern Kale, and not only 
implies that it is grown in the north, but is also an 
indication of its hardiness. 
The varieties or strains are exceedingly numerous, 
and the list of synonyms extensive. Some of them are 
widely cultivated in Britain, while others are local. 
The distinguishing characteristics of the leaves are 
that they are distinctly green, not glaucous, as in most 
other open-headed Cabbages, and more or less deeply 
incised or fringed, undulated or crisped at the margin. 
The leading variety is the Dwarf Green Curled, known 
also as Scotch Kale, Curlies, and a host of other names. 
Slight variations from this are grown under the names 
of Brince of "Wales Plume, Chelsea Exquisite, Dwarf 
Moss Curled, &c., all finely curled kinds. The finer 
and more deeply crisped the leaves are, the better the 
quality is considered to be. In the olden times a great 
many of the Scotch growers saved seed from their own 
strains of Kale, and even at the present day the 
practice prevails to a certain extent amongst tho 
crofters or small farmers and cottagers. The tender 
young leaves are first gathered as soon as the plants 
attain a suitable size, after which the coarse leaves are 
pulled off during the latter part of summer as cattle 
food. The leaves again become tender and good for 
cooking after they have had a touch of frost. Almost 
every cottage in villages and country places has a Kale 
yard attached to it, in northern districts. The dwarf 
habit of these strains is an additional recommendation 
to the finely curled character of tho leaves, as the 
plants get wholly covered with snow, rvhich not only 
renders them more tender eating, but protects them 
from being destroyed by severe frost, and from the 
ravages of wood-pigeons, pheasants and partridges, 
which sometimes, during severe storms, leave not a 
vestige of the Kale, saving the stems and the midribs of 
the leaves. In the spring of the second year the young 
shoots and leaves also make very tender eating. 
Closely allied to the above is the Tall Green Curled, 
differing chiefly in the greater length of the stems. It 
is known by a host of other names, including those of 
Tall German Greens, Tall Scotch Kale, &c. The 
quality of the finer strains, as I have seen in many an 
old cottage garden, is equally as good as that of the 
Dwarf Curlies, and perhaps the produce in the way of 
coarse leaves for cattle is greater ; but in districts 
infested with the birds above mentioned, the plants 
are liable to be devoured during heavy snowstorms, 
and not being covered with snow they get destroyed by 
alternately freezing and thawing. 
Carter’s "Welsh Kale is a rather distinct dark or 
light green narrow-leaved and finely-curled form. The 
Purple Borecole or Braunkohl of the Germans has 
dark purple leaves, but otherwise does not greatly 
differ from the Tall Green Curled. It is productive and 
more largely grown in Germany than anywhere else, 
and being very hardy withstands the severity of the 
winter there. The Germans, in cooking the leaves, 
sometimes cover them with a rich sauce, and after 
mixing with chestnuts they stew the whole together. 
There is a dwarf form of the Purple Borecole. 
The Imperial Hearting Kale and Read’s Hearting are 
closely allied to the dwarf Green Curled, and differ 
chiefly by the way in which the leaves of the crown- 
bud fold inwards, so as to form a Cabbage-like head 
of moderate firmness, and about the size of both fists. 
This head makes very tender eating, for which reason 
the strain is held in high estimation by some, while it 
is later in running to seed. 
The variegated Borecole or Kale is a strain closely 
allied to the Dwarf Purple. The leaves are generally 
finely curled, purplish or green, with the principal ribs 
and the central part, and sometimes nearly the whole 
blade, white, creamy white or yellow, clear yellow, 
rose, purple, red or violet-purple. All these variations 
may be obtained from one batch of seedlings, and some 
individuals degenerate, producing coarse and very 
slightly fringed leaves. Like all the leading types, 
the variegated Kale is of ancient origin, the variegation 
being as perfect more than seventy years ago as it is at 
present. At that early date it was used as food in the 
same way as other curled Kales, it was also grown for 
the production of oil from the seed, and often jnerely 
for ornamental purposes. At present it is cooked and 
eaten after having been rendered tender by frost, is 
also used for garnishing, and occasionally finds its way 
into the flower garden, to fill the beds in winter. 
The last of the fringed or curled Kales I shall 
mention is the Woburn Perennial Kale, which, as far 
as I have been able to learn, has become lost to culti¬ 
vation. It was a tall finely curled form of the Purple 
Borecole, that had almost lost the power to produce 
flowers or seeds. It was first grown at Woburn Abbey, 
the seat of the Duke of Bedford, in 1808, and was 
grown in the gardens for six years as an ornamental 
plant, but refused to flower until it was nine years old 
and 7 ft. high. The produce of a plantation of eight 
years’ standing, without manure, was five times as 
great as that of the Green Borecole, and nearly five 
times that of the Purple Borecole. It was propagated 
by cuttings, 6 ins. or 7 ins. long, inserted in the ground 
in their permanent positions, in March or April ; these 
readily produced roots. Old plantations were cut down 
almost to the roots in April, and from the stools 
fresh shoots were produced, as in a true perennial. 
The ground was lightly forked, and afterwards kept 
clear of weeds, no other culture being required. It 
was considered equal to other winter greens as food, 
and proved very economical in the matter of manure, 
and the small amount of labour it required in its 
culture. 
The practice pursued from ancient times to the 
present, by the English, of cutting off the head or 
crown of small leaves of the Green or Curled Borecole, 
I consider far from economical, because a much larger 
produce from a given piece of ground can be obtained 
by pulling off the lower leaves as they become fit for 
use, either for cattle or human food, according to the 
age of the plants or the particular time of tho year. 
This is largely pursued by cottagers in this country, 
especially in North Britain, and again in the Channel 
Islands, as well as on the neighbouring coast of France 
at least. In the case of Cottagers’ Kale, Chou de 
Milan, and other sprouting sorts that come into use in 
spring, it is on the other hand advantageous sometimes 
to cut oil' the crown in order to hasten the production 
of side shoots when other greens are scarce. 
Turnip Cabbage or Kohl Rabi (B. o. Caulo-PMpa). 
This is a distinct race from the] above, but is more 
closely allied perhaps to the Wild Cabbage than many 
of the open-headed Cabbages. Its development, how¬ 
ever, has been along different lines ; for instead of some 
well-marked variation in the leaves, it is the stem that 
has departed from the type in becoming globular, thick 
and fleshy, resembling a Turnip ; but it is the upper part 
of the stem bearing the leaves, and not the lower 
which has become fleshy or succulent. The soft or 
parenchymatous tissue of the stem has greatly increased 
at the expense of the woody or fibro-vascular tissue. 
This portion is used as a culinary vegetable in the same 
manner as the Turnip, but it is far more extensively 
grown for this purpose in Germany than in Britain, 
and Kohl Rabi, by which it is best known here, is the 
German name. It is also grown in Britain for stock 
feeding. It is the Chou rave of the French. The 
leaves are deeply glaucous, and, as a rule, but little 
divided, except in the case of the crisped and Artichoke¬ 
leaved varieties. 
Several varieties are grown in this country, but the 
Early White and the E-irly Purple Vienna are the best 
for garden purposes. The Early Dwarf is another 
tolerably good kind, and is older than the first two. 
The skin of the Early White Vienna is glossy and 
white, or pale green; while that of Early Purple 
Vienna is purple with a glaucous bloom. The leaves 
are inserted in a curious manner all over the surface of 
the tuber. Kohl Rabi is of ancient origin, and was 
described before the time of Linmeus. The swelling of 
the stem of the Cabbage into a Turnip-like body need 
cause no surprise, for it had occurred in several of the 
round-headed Cabbages, and may be seen to a certain 
extent in the Red and White Marrow-stem Cabbages or 
Kales, where the stem gets very succulent and stout, 
and is used for culinary purposes after being made 
tender by frost. This is well, as the various forms of 
Kohl Rabi are after all only “ Kale runts,” which no 
doubt act injuriously on the prejudices and sentiments 
of a great many, thus militating greatly against their 
own popularity with consumers generally.—.7. F. 
(To be continued.) 
-- 
A NEW FLORA OF WARWICK¬ 
SHIRE. 
Reviewing this new work of Mr. James E. Bagnall, 
the Midland Counties’ Herald says:—“It is seventy 
years since Mr. W. G. Perry published his Plantce 
Varvicenses Selectee, which gave an account of what 
at that time were considered rare plants only. It 
records 379 flowering plants, Ferns, Fern allies, and 
twenty-three Mosses. Purton’s Botanical Description 
of British Plants in the Midland Counties, in three 
vols., was published in 1817-21, and, as its name 
indicates, is not limited to Warwickshire. It records 
rare and common species of flowering plants, Ferns 
and Fern allies, Lichens, Fungi, and Algse to the 
number of 1,592. In Mr. Bagnall’s Flora, which 
relates to Warwickshire only, the record is as under :— 
Flowering plants, Ferns and Fern 
allies, species and varieties ... 1,309 
Mosses and Hepaticae . 281 
Lichens . 117 
Fungi. . 730 
Total. 2,437 
It will thus be seen that Mr. Bagnall’s work records 
845 more plants for Warwickshire alone than Purton 
did for all the Midland Counties. It is thus justly 
entitled to be regarded as the first complete flora 
of the county ever published ; and its records are 
made in such a manner, so exact and full, that all 
future workers in Warwickshire botany will have 
little more to do than to add new finds to this exhaus¬ 
tive account of the plants growing naturally in the 
county.’’ 
