spring months.  But on damp ground and in exposed situations the best time to plant is the month of March.  Put down the line, and open a trench one foot deep; plant the roots with their crowns two inches below the surface, filling in and treading firmly as each trench is planted.  The precaution may be taken to pare off all the pointed prominent buds on each crown, as this will prevent the rise of flower-stems; but if this is neglected, the cultivator must take care to cut out all the flowering-shoots that appear, for the production of flowers will prove detrimental to the crop of Sea Kale in the following season.  Our custom, when a plantation has been thus made, is to grow another crop with it the first season.  The ground between the rows is marked out in narrow strips, and lightly forked over, and if a coat of rotten manure can be spared it is pricked in, and a neat seed-bed is made of every strip, eighteen to twenty-four inches wide.  On this prepared bed sow Onions, Lettuces, and other light crops, and as the Sea Kale advances take care to remove whatever would interfere with their expansion, for the stolen crop should not stand in the way of that intended for permanent occupation.  A crop of early Cauliflower, small Cabbage, or even Potatoes, may be taken, in which case there will be room for only one row alternately with each row of Kale, and perhaps one row also in the alleys.

The growth of the Kale should be promoted by all legitimate means, and in high summer it will take water, liquid manure, and mulchings of rich stuff, to almost any extent, with advantage.  The irrigation that suits the Kale will probably also suit the stolen crop, but irrigation is not good for Onions or Potatoes; where these crops are grown care must be exercised to bestow the fluid on the Sea Kale only.

As the leaves decay in autumn they should be removed, and the ground kept thoroughly clean.  When finally cleaned up, let it be forked over, but with care not to put the tool too near the plants; and if manure is plentiful, lay down a coat for a finish, or fork it in at the general clear up.  There should now commence a systematic saving of clean leaves.  Mere vegetable rubbish is not to be thought of.  Proceed to cover the ground with leaves in heaps or ridges sufficient to make a coat finally of about one foot deep, or say nine inches at the very least.  If there is any store of rough planking on the premises, let the planks be laid on the ridges of leaves on whichever side the prevailing wind may be.  This will prevent the leaves being blown away, and the planks will be handy for the next stage in the business.