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.

We have suggested that two sowings may be regarded as generally
sufficient, but we are bound to take notice of the fact that the late
supplies of these vegetables are sometimes disappointing. In a mild
winter the Kales reserved for use in spring will be likely to grow when
they should stand still, and at the first break of pleasant spring
weather they will bolt, very much to the vexation of those who expected
many a basket of sprouts from them. A May sowing planted out in a cold