December 5, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
209 
knife, each shoot being shortened down to two or 
three eyes, care being taken to leave such eyes point¬ 
ing to a direction which will most likely form a bushy 
or well-shaped head of bloom. 
In pruning the cuts should always be made in an 
upward slanting direction, and close to the eyes or 
buds. It is a very common practice for Roses and 
other plants to be pruned without any regard to the 
cuts being made close to the eyes, the result being 
that when the new wood has grown from the eyes 
there will remain pieces of dead wood above the old 
eyes, or angles, of the new shoots, and which are 
always a great "eye-sore” after the pruning is per¬ 
formed, a good dressing of either old or fresh manure 
round the plants will prove most beneficial to the 
vigour of growth .—James Tliurstan, Finsbury House, 
Richmond Road , Cardifj . 
-- 
SEA KALE. 
This must be one of our oldest vegetables, for it is 
said to have been known to the Romans, who used 
to gather it in a wild state and preserve it in barrels 
for use during long voyages. I have no doubt but 
that we owe its introduction as a vegetable largely to 
the fishermen upon the sea coasts, who gathered the 
stems and cooked them long before it became a cul¬ 
tivated vegetable in our kitchen gardens; and they 
used to swing themselves over precipitous cliffs by 
means of ropes in order to gather the stalks for their 
consumption. 
It is a sea-side plant, and derives its name from 
having been originally found growing wild upon the 
sea-coast, its tender shoots, no doubt, blanched by 
the drifting of the sand. It is a true native plant, a 
hardy perennial. Every one who knows anything of 
kitchen garden plants is aware of the character of 
its growth, though they may not know that the white 
flowers have a strong smell of honey. It is said that 
bundles of Sea Kale were exposed for sale in 
Chichester market about 1753. Sir William Jones, 
who lived at Chelsea some time in the middle of the 
last century, highly appreciated the excellence of 
this delicious and delicately-flavoured vegetable, and 
endeavoured to introduce it to our markets, but only 
with a moderate amount of success. Accounts state 
that in Exeter at one time the roots fetched as much 
as half-a-crown each, but when tried in Covent Gar¬ 
den Market, the labels attached to the roots having 
become defaced or lost, the Kale was carefully set 
aside as a suspicious looking and probably poisonous 
root in case it should be eaten by some guileless pur¬ 
chaser. It was not known about London until 1767, 
when Dr. Lettsom cultivated it at Camberwell, and 
was the first to bring it into general notice. It was 
always in favour among the Scottish people, and may 
be found in most continental markets, more especially 
in France. An old French author vilified Sea Kale 
as the " Chou marin sauvage d’Angleterre,” having 
possibly tasted a bitter specimen of Kale he opined 
it fit only for uncouth and uncivilised palates. But 
when well blanched and well served it equals, if it 
does not surpass, Asparagus in delicacy of flavour. 
The young shoots and unopened leaves are con¬ 
sidered by some the best parts of Sea Kale, but the 
larger leaves may be scraped, cooked, and served 
like Asparagus. They are also found very useful in 
soups. 
Forced or blanched Sea Kale is most delicate in 
mid-winter, when other kinds of fresh vegetables are 
difficult to obtain. It should not be exposed to the 
action of light, as that renders it strong and bitter ; 
therefore, after cutting, the heads should be kept 
in the dark, or carefully covered, dressed when 
young, crisp and tender; if allowed to become stale 
and discoloured, it is comparatively worthless. Sea 
Kale is remarkably easy of assimilation, and as it 
abounds in alkaline properties, it will be found one 
of the most nutritious, as well as the lightest escu¬ 
lents which can be taken by the sedentary, or by any 
who suffer from dyspeptic tendencies. 
Sea Kale should have ground prepared for it much 
as for Asparagus, and like the latter it appears to 
have a preference for salt and seaweed. An old 
gardener says the best plants are those one year old 
which have been obtained from seed sown on poor 
land. The roots may be planted in the autumn and 
up to April, in land of good heart, deeply trenched 
and well manured ; if planted singly, as some recom¬ 
mend, the rows may be 3 ft. apart, and the plants 
2 ft. apart in the rows. If planted in clumps, three 
roots should form a clump, and they be 3 ft. apart, 
and 4 ft. be allowed between each row. When 
grown for forcing simply they may be much nearer 
together. 
Sea Kale should never be hurried by too much 
heat, as it spindles, becomes weak and flavourless. 
One old gardener says that it is at its best when 
from 4 in. to 6 in. long ; and when cut, care should 
be taken to cut through the crown just below the 
surface of the soil; the reason being that if the 
severed crown is left above the soil, to be exposed to 
frost after it has been cut, it causes something in the 
way of canker. Therefore it is recommended that 
after being cut, some litter and leaves be shaken 
among the crowns, so that the frost may not pene¬ 
trate to them, to cause injury in the manner just 
stated.— R. D. 
-- 
RICHARDIA AFRICANA 
COMPACTA. 
Within recent years, since the cultivation of Richar- 
dia africana (better known perhaps as R. aethiopica) 
has been taken up in earnest and specially grown for 
decorative and cut flower purposes, spathes of sur¬ 
passing size have been produced, and are certainly 
handsome in their way. High culture has had the 
advantage of giving rise to such large spathes, in 
ordinary phraseology termed flowers, but it has had 
the disadvantage of enormously increasing the length 
of the leaf stalks, the flower scape, and the bulk of 
the plant generally. Comparatively a few plants 
take up a considerable amount of space. 
Recently a pigmy variety,about 1 ft. high, came to 
us from the Channel Islands. It was exhibited and 
certificated under the name of Little Gem, and un¬ 
doubtedly it is a gem in its way, and on its being 
sent out by Messrs. Cutbush & Son met with a ready 
sale. The size of all the parts, however, was so much 
reduced that some cultivators thought there was a 
necessity for something of an intermediate character 
and this has in fact been accomplished in the raising, 
in Germany we believe, of the subject under notice, 
namely, R. a. compacta. The whole plant is dwarf 
and compact, the flower scape, which is the tallest 
part of the whole, being only 18 in. to 20in. high, 
while the leaf stalks are robust and in keeping with, 
the flower scape. The spathe is not much smaller than 
that of the ordinary type, and equally pure white, 
so that the new variety has the merit of being dwarf, 
while there is no corresponding reduction in the 
spathe. 
It will no doubt be largely growrn for decorative 
purposes as a pot plant, as well as for cut flowers ; 
its dwarf compact habit will enable it to be placed 
on the front shelves of the conservatory, or on the 
tables or in the windows of dwelling houses, where 
it will prove a boon when it becomes known. A 
plant of it was exhibited at the meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 27th of October, by 
Messrs. Robert Veitch & Son, Exeter, when an Award 
of Merit was unanimously accorded it. Our illustra¬ 
tion was prepared from the plant exhibited. 
CINERARIAS. 
Cinerarias have much to recommend their culture, 
inasmuch as they can be had in bloom at a period of 
the year when our greenhouses are somewhat scarce 
of flowers, and, when staged with ferns and other 
foliage plants, make a house look quite gay. In order 
to have a good display in December, it is necessary 
that seed should sown in February, and in the selec¬ 
tion of seed it is always advisable to procure a good 
strain, as a bad variety, however cheap, entails the 
same amount of labour in the matter of pricking out, 
potting, watering, etc., besides ending in disappoint¬ 
ment. 
Sowing. 
Pans or pots should be well-drained, and filled 
to within an inch of the top with light loamy soil, 
the top portion being made a little finer, and evenly 
pressed down. After being watered with a fine rose, 
the seeds should be scattered thinly on the surface, 
and placed in a warm house, covering the pans with 
a sheet of paper to exclude the light. Treated in 
this manner, the seeds quickly germinate When 
large enough to remove they should be potted off 
into thumbs, adding to the loam a little rough leaf 
soil, and coarse silver or river sand, leaving the 
hearts of the seedlings free from soil. It will be 
found that they will quickly fill these pots, and 
should be shifted into larger ones as soon as neces¬ 
sary, otherwise, if they are left too long, the leaves 
quickly go yellow, and the future well-being of the 
plants is impaired. Too much attention cannot be 
paid to this point if success is to be attained. 6-in. 
pots will suffice for the general stock of plants 
for the final potting, but, if a few large specimens 
are desired, 8-in. pots may be employed. For this 
last shift a little rotted manure should be added, as 
this will greatly help them. 
Watering 
Is also an essential point in Cineraria culture, 
and if foliage is to be maintained in good condition, 
broad and of a dense green, is one which must re¬ 
ceive great attention, as however fine the heads of 
bloom may be their beauty is depreciated if not sur¬ 
rounded with plenty of their own foliage. Stimu¬ 
lants in the shape of liquid cow manure, or ferti* 
lizers, etc., weakly applied at first, may be given 
them when the roots have filled the pots. 
Their summer quarters should be a frame which is 
not exposed to the rays of the sun the whole of the 
day; one having a north aspect will do, and in this 
position they should receive an unlimited supply of 
air. As autumn approaches, and danger of frost is 
apprehended, they should be removed to a cool house 
—a cool house in its widest sense—and here they 
must have abundant ventilation ; only during severe 
weather should heat be applied, and then only 
sufficient to dispel damp and frost. 
Cinerarias resent a close warm atmosphere and 
give far better results if grown under cooler condi¬ 
tions ; moreover, red spider, a pest to which they 
are unfortunately subject, is almost sure to attack 
them if treated to a high temperature, and if allowed 
to get dry at the roots. 
Another point, which ought not to be overlooked, is 
overcrowding. Too many growers fall into the error 
of overcrowding their houses, and nothing is worse 
for Cinerarias. It is far better to grow a dozen 
plants well than to cram into the same space a score, 
which must inevitably suffer for want of air, etc. 
Indeed, it is absolutely necessary that they should 
stand clear of each other if perfect specimens are 
required. Whilst in the frames the lights may be 
entirely removed on warm nights, as the dew will be 
beneficial to them, besides having a tendency to make 
the plants more robust, and consequently less liable 
to the attacks of insects. 
If greenfly or red spider should present an appear¬ 
ance, the plants should be lightly fumigated with 
tobacco paper once or twice and afterwards syringed 
with clear water. There is such a thing as fumi¬ 
gating too strongly, and I have on more than one 
occasion seen plants which had previously given 
great promise completely divested of their foliage 
through over-fumigation. It is far better to adopt 
milder measures once or twice than to spoil the labour 
of months by an operation like the one I have de¬ 
scribed. Greenfly, etc., can generally be traced to 
either dryness at the roots, bad ventilation, or too 
high a temperature, frequently the latter. Cinerarias 
only require exclusion of frost to ensure a show of 
flowers, and the best display I ever saw was a batch 
