KALE FOR Brassica olera eta, var. acephala, DC. Cruc(ferce. Figs. 583, 584.
The kales (or borecoles) are leafy, headless forms of the cabbage species. Some of them are grown in vegetable gardens for "greens." The purple and curled-leaved kinds are very handsome plants. The stock-feeding or forage kinds are mostly taller, with heavy, rank foliage. Kales are little grown in this country for forage. It is doubtful whether they will ever attain great prominence here.
The thousand-headed kale furnishes a large quan tity of very nutritious fodder for fall and early winter, helps to prolong the season for green fod der, is a good soiling crop, and partially replaces silage in the early winter. It is hardier than most varieties of the cabbage family and less subject to disease and insects. In this respect it differs from the Scotch and curled varieties, which are really kitchen-garden subjects.
Kale will grow on any soil of normal fertility, but it does best on warm, well-drained soils, such as sandy loarns. The application of manure and fertilizer, especially nitrogenous fertilizer, will profitably increase the yield on most soils. To get the best results with the application of nitrates, two or three applications should be made during the season. Kale is a rank feeder, and does well on land that has been heavily manured the pre vious season.
The culture is similar to that of the large varie ties of cabbage (which see). At the North, for garden use the plants may be started in the hotbed and transferred to the coldframe, not only to lengthen the growing season but to enable them to escape the attacks of the cabbage root-maggot. The plants should be set in rows three feet apart and about two feet apart in the row, depending on the variety. For forage, the seeds would need to be planted directly in the field. Thorough cultivation and clean culture during the early growth is essen tial, but later the plants cover the ground and require no further attention.
Storing.
The young plants are sensitive to se vere frost, but the old plants will with stand a heavy freeze. Thus they can be left in the field till win ter sets in and can be kept through the winter like cabbage. The writer has found the following method of storing very satis factory with a small quantity : Tight bar rels are filled with the plants, which should either be run through a cutter or be cut up partially with a sharp spade so that they pack closely in the barrel. Salt is
sprinkled in with the plants, and when they are thoroughly packed water is added to fill any spaces ; the barrel is then covered. Kale thus packed will be well preserved if kept cold. For feeding, they would better be used green, as gathered from the field, or else stored loosely in a shed.
Because of the high nutritive value of these plants, they should be fed carefully and never be used to make the bulk of the ration. All kinds of stock are fond of kale. Remarks on the feeding value of kohlrabi (see succeeding article) apply more or less closely to kale.
Enemies.
The cabbage root-maggot is the worst pest in th growing of kale, and, indeed, of any of the cabbag family. When this fly is abundant, it is some times advantageous to sow a few cabbages in the field or transplant them to the field before setting out the main crop ; then when the fly has deposited her eggs on these, they may be destroyed by applying kerosene oil directly to the plants and soil. The writer has found that thousand-headed kale is not so seriously attacks as curled kale or cabbage.
The cabbage worms, as a rule, do not serious] attack this crop, but when they do they are easil destroyed by spraying on a warm, dry day with solution of pyrethrum.
A tall-growing collard, grown in the island Jersey for stock feed, from which place it has bee introduced into California. At the California sta tion it produced green feed at the rate of sixtee tons per acre, and started again quickly after cut ting. It seems to have value as a summer and fa feed for poultry as well as for stock. It require an abundance of moisture, and does well unde irrigation. It is hardy, and will thrive for severs years if the ground does not freeze in winter. Th leaves frequently attain a breadth of twenty-eigh inches. There is very little available experienc with this plant in North America.
In the island of Jersey, the leaves are broke from the main stem for feeding to pigs and catth leaving pronounced scars on the stem. It is th third year, often, before the plant blooms, and b this time the stiff stem may be ten feet or mor high. The stems are much used in the Charm( islands for the making of canes and sticks to se: to tourists.