SEA-KALE. 
quired. The plants in the rows will grow luxuri- 
antly, and become very large, so much so as, in all 
probability, to come in contact, forming one con- 
nected line of sea-green foliage. All the culture 
during the summer and autumn, will consist in keep- 
ing the beds clear from weeds, and in digging the al- 
ternate spaces two or three times, to the depth of 9 
inches, so as to pulverize and render the soil as fine 
as possible. At the two last operations (say in July 
and October), it would be as well to incorporate 
with the soil a two-inch layer of decayed leaves, 
mixed with one-fourth part of pure wood-ashes. The 
reader will be very careful to avoid sea-coal or even 
pit-coal ashes. It formerly was the custom to cover 
sea-kale with conical hills of those ashes during win- 
ter, and one out of three or four plants perished, the 
damage being ascribed to mice or moles. I never 
have lost a plant since I left off that acrimonious 
chemical compound, styled ashes, nor could I, by 
any means, keep my bed entire while I employed it. 
Its destructive influence has at length been admitted, 
and sea-kale now enjoys a regular growth, and re- 
pays its cultivator. No forcing ought to be at- 
tempted during the first winter; but it would not be 
amiss, after clearing off all the old leaves, to strain 
a line along the edges of the beds, and, cutting the 
earth by it three inches deep, to mould up the two 
feet beds with the earth taken to that depth from 
the intermediate spaces. A tall marking stick should, 
however, be placed near the centres of the plants. 
After the earthing up, a blanching- pot, wooden 
box, or old bee-hive, is to be set over every plant. 
A straw-hive is indeed an excellent material. It is 
sufficiently strong, warm, and impervious to light, 
even when used alone, without leaves, for blanch- 
ing. A small or even a very tolerable gathering of 
fine white kale will be the result of this treatment, 
earlier or later, according to the season and climate; 
and, in cutting it, the knife should be passed below 
the surface of the stratum of soil that was added, so 
as to bring up each full-sized shoot in a compact 
state, and not in detached leaves. The smaller 
sprouts ought not to be cut; and, when all the large 
ones have been taken, the superposed soil should be 
drawn back into the spaces, and. the whole plot re- 
duced to an even surface-level. This work will, it 
is presumed, be performed about mid-April, and then 
a knife, or very sharp-edged spade, should be passed 
through the shoots, so 2s to cut off every one that 
rises above the original level of the bed. This cut- 
ting will induce the plants to send forth a number of 
fresh shoots, and prevent, in a degree, the protru- 
sion of flower-stems. The routine culture of the 
second season will comprise weeding with a flat hoe, 
digging and enriching of the spaces, as before di- 
rected, and the immediate excision of every flower- 
stem that may be sent up. After the leaves have 
become inactive, remove them. Mark each plant 
with a tall stick, and dig and mould up the beds with 
fine earth from the spaces, as in the previous sea- 
son; but now, and in each succeeding year, dig out, 
and remove to a spot at hand (as convenience may 
point out), the earth of each space, on the sides of 
those rows which are to be excited, so as to leave 
trenches one foot deep. The plots ought to be so 
contrived as to furnish three distinct forcings,—the 
first to commence late in November, to be cut at the 
close of the year; the second, about the first week 
in January; and the third, early in February. A 
fourth reserve ought to come in at the natural sea- 
son, blanched, but not forced, in April. The 
trenches are to be filled to the level of the tops of 
the line of pots or covers with tree-leaves, blended, 
if possible, with one-third part of fresh stable-ma- 
nure. When this level is attained, the pots and 
spaces between them must be covered to the depth 
of two feet with the same materials. The bed of 
SEA-OOZE. 
fermenting material ought to form a compact mass of — | 
equal depth; and this it will be advisable to cover | 
with straw hurdles or thatch, to keep out excessive 
rains, and to retain the developed heat. ‘Trial- 
sticks should be thrust deeply into the masses; and 
if these, on being withdrawn, feel gently warm, the 
work of forcing will proceed regularly, and kale 
will be procured in succession from Christmas to the 
end of March, to be succeeded by the crops from 
the unexcited bed. After forcing and clearing off 
the leaves, &c., the trenches are always to be filled 
up, and the surface-level restored.” ; 
SHA-LAVENDER. See Sratice. 
SEAM. Tallow, hog’s lard, or any other pre- 
pared, solid animal fat ; also, a quarter of grain; 
also, a horse-load of wood. 
SEA-MATGRASS. The Psamma arenaria or 
Ammophila arundinacea. See ARunvo. 
SEA - MILK WORT, — botanically Glauz. A 
small, handsome, evergreen, indigenous plant, of 
the salicaria family. It constitutes a genus of 
itself, and takes the specific name of maritima. 
Its name glaux alludes to the colour of its leaves, 
and its name maritima to its habitat in salt 
marshes. It is also sometimes called black salt- 
wort, in allusion to the saltishness of its taste. 
The stem is densely leafy, and 3 or 4 inches 
high; the leaves are entire, elliptico-oblong, and 
smooth ; and the flowers are axillary, solitary, 
and nearly sessile, and have a flesh-colour, and 
bloom in May and June. The plant may be 
raised from seeds, and cultivated in an open. 
sandy loam. 
SEAM-PRESSER. See Romzer. 
SEA-MUD. See Mup and Sra-Oozz. 
SEA-OOZE. The sediment of sea-water 
around bays and friths and the mouths of rivers. 
It is a compound of finely comminuted earths, 
calcareous matters, saline substances, and ani- 
mal and vegetable remains ; but materially va- 
ries in composition, as found in different locali- 
ties, according to the form of the beach, the 
strength of the sea-water, the action of the winds 
and currents, and especially the character of the 
alluviums and drainages brought down by the 
adjacent rivers. It is, in every case, a good ma- 
nure ; but, on most soils and for most purposes, 
it acts best when it contains a fair proportion of 
calcareous matter, or freely effervesces with any 
of the common acids. 
Sea-ooze has been extensively and advantage- 
ously used as a spring top-dressing for grass lands. 
It also does well, in some places, to be spread on 
old lea, and ploughed in, without any addition, 
in the following spring, preparatorily to a rota- 
tion of oats, potatoes, wheat, and either oats and 
barley with clover and grasses; and has been 
found, when used in this way, to produce great 
crops, and to exert a more durable and much 
less critical or doubtful influence than marl. - It 
has likewise been employed, with mighty and 
very enduring effect, as a fertilizer of moss lands ; 
but requires, in this capacity, to be applied in 
the large dose of about 100 one-horse cart loads 
