Scorzonera is not much grown in this country, but as it is prized on the Continent, it might be introduced to many English tables with advantage.  The main point in the cultivation is to obtain large clean roots, for carelessly grown samples will be small, forked, and fibrous.  Trench a piece of ground, and mix a good dressing of half-rotten manure with the bottom spit, taking care that there is none in the top spit.  Make a nice seed-bed, and sow in the month of March in shallow drills fifteen inches apart, and as the plants advance thin them until they stand a foot apart in the drill.  Keep the crop clean, and it will be fit for use in September.  Lift as wanted in the same manner as Parsnips.  Seed may also be sown in April and May.

To cook the roots they must first be scalded, then scraped and thrown into water in which there are a few drops of lemon juice.  Let them remain half an hour; boil in salted water in the same way as Carrots until quite tender, and serve with white sauce.  If left to get cold they can be sliced and fried in butter to make a good side dish.

==Sea Kale==

==Crambe maritima==

Many persons prefer Sea Kale to Asparagus, but the two differ so widely in flavour and general character that no comparison between them is possible.  On two points, however, the advantage certainly rests with Sea Kale.  It can be more easily grown, and, regarded solely as an article of food, it is the more profitable crop.  This comparison has therefore a practical bearing.  In forming a new garden, and in cases where it may not be possible to grow both these esculents satisfactorily, Sea Kale should have attention first, as a thing that will require but a small investment, and that will surely pay its way, with quick returns, to the general advantage of the household.

==Outdoor Culture.==—­Sea Kale requires strong ground, fully exposed to the sun, and enriched with any good manure, that from the stable being undoubtedly the best.  The most satisfactory way to begin is with well-grown roots, as they make a return at once with the least imaginable trouble.  Let the ground be well dug two spits deep, and put a coat of manure between; or if it is a good substantial loam, plant without manure, and the results will be excellent.  As the thriving plant covers a considerable space, and there must be a certain amount of traffic on the ground to manage it, there should be one row in the centre of a four-feet bed, with a broad alley on one side; or, better still, mark out a ten-feet space, with a three-feet alley on each side, and in this space plant three rows two and a half feet apart, and the roots one and a half to two feet apart.  The planting may be done at any time after the leaves have fallen, late in autumn, and during winter and early spring.  On warm, dry ground, winter planting answers perfectly, and enables the gardener to complete the task, for there is always enough to do in the