==Borecole, or Kale==

==Brassica oleracea acephala==

The Borecoles or Kales are indispensable for the supply of winter vegetables, and their importance becomes especially manifest when severe frost has made general havoc in the Kitchen Garden.  Then it is seen that the hardier Borecoles are proof against the lowest temperature experienced in these islands; and, while frost leaves the plants unharmed, it improves the tops and side sprouts that are required for table purposes.

As regards soil, the Borecoles are the least particular of the whole race of Brassicas.  They appear to be capable of supplying the table with winter greens even when grown on hard rocky soil, but good loam suits them admirably, and a strong clay, well tilled, will produce a grand sample.  Granting, then, that a good soil is better than a bad one, we urge the sowing of seed as early as possible for insuring to the plant a long season of growth.  But early sowing should be followed by early planting, for it is bad practice to leave the plants crowded in the seed-bed until the summer is far advanced.  This, however, is often unavoidable, and it is well to consider in time where the plants are to go, and when, according to averages, the ground will be vacant to receive them.  The first sowing may be made early in March, and another in the middle of April.  These two sowings will suffice for almost all the purposes that can be imagined.  A good seed-bed in an open spot is absolutely necessary.  It is usual to draw direct from the seed-bed for planting out as opportunities occur, and this method answers fairly well.  But when large enough it is better practice to prick out as a preparation for the final planting, because a stouter and handsomer plant is thereby secured.  If it is intended to follow the rough and ready plan, the seed drills should be nine inches apart; but for pricking out six inches will answer, and thus a very small bed will provide a lot of plants.  When pricked out, the plants should be six inches apart each way, and they should go to final quarters as soon as the leaves touch one another.  On the flat, a fair distance between Borecoles is two feet apart each way, but some vigorous kinds in good ground will pay for another foot of space, and will yield enormous crops when their time arrives.  Transplanting is usually done in June and July, and in many gardens Kales are planted between the rows of second-early or maincrop Potatoes.  The work should be done during showery weather if possible, but these Brassicas have an astonishing degree of vitality.  If put out during drought very little water is required to start them, and as the cool weather returns they will grow with vigour.  But good cultivation saves a plant from extreme conditions; and it is an excellent practice to dig in green manure when preparing ground for Kales, because a free summer growth is needful to the formation of a stout productive plant.