Seeding.— Good seed is of prime importance. At present most of the seed is imported at a cost of about two dollars per pound, while in England it sells for one-half to one-fourth that price. A germination test should be made early in the season. The seed is sown at the rate of four or five pounds per acre.
Early sowing is necessary. In one year the three varieties mentioned above were sown on May 9 and again on June 14. The results were in favor of early sowing by about three tons of fresh sub stance, and about one-fourth ton of dry matter per acre. Kohlrabi, like its relative the cabbage, re quires a long growing period for a maximum yield, though such might not be desirable when grown for table use. The seed should be sown in drills twenty-four to thirty-six inches apart, similar to the manner of sowing turnips. Rows wide apart facilitate much in the use of horse implements in tillage.
Fertilizing.—If by weakly plants or tardiness of growth the food supply seems to be lacking, this may be added along the row in the form of nitrate of soda or guano. On most soils the plant responds well to rotted manure applied before planting, or to a complete fertilizer rather rich in phosphoric acid and potash, at the rate of 300 to 500 pounds per acre.
Subsequent care.—It is during the early stages of growth that most labor and care must be expended on the crop. When well up, the plants should be thinned by chopping to eight or ten inches in the row. After the plants are well established and weeds are destroyed, it is necessary only to cultivate shallow at intervals of a fortnight or so for the purpose of stirring the surface and keeping the land in good tilth.
Harvesting and storing.
Kohlrabi is usually allowed to remain in the field until frost, as light frosts do not injure it and during the latter part of summer and early fall it grows some and ripens. Sometimes, however, it is
pastured in the field by swine or sheep. The fact that it stands out of the ground gives it an advan tage for this purpose. If pulled, however, for im mediate feeding, the leaves should be left on, as these are nutritious and palatable and add two to five tons per acre to the yield. If it is to be stored, the leaves should be removed, and the roots also if they cannot be freed from dirt.
Kohlrabi may be stored either in a cellar or a Tit. The essentials of a good storage cellar are drainage, ventilation and that it be frost-proof. With these supplied, kohlrabi is not hard to keep. If stored in a pit, the pit should be located on a well-drained piece of ground. Two layers of straw should alternate with layers of earth for covering. Ventilation should be arranged at intervals in the top of the pit. The pit should not be opened for any length of time on warm days after the winter has set in.
Enemies.
Kohlrabi is attacked by the same enemies as cabbage, which see.
Feeding.
The product should be fed early in the season. If left until late, it dries, becomes pithy, stringy and sometimes hollow. For ordinary feeding, kohl rabi should be cut into pieces or slices ; for pigs and poultry, however, it may be fed whole. It is most economically fed with grain. Thirty to fifty pounds make one feed for a thousand-pound animal. There is no record of its having given a flavor to milk when fed to cows, but it should not be about the milk-room at milking time. No trials are reported of its having been fed to horses.
Literature.
From the kitchen-garden or horticultural point of view, many of the gardening books may be con sulted. [For American forage-crop experiments, see Cornell Bulletins Nos. 243, 244.]