Garlic is little known in this country except amongst those of foreign birth. It is multiplied the same as multiplier onions—the bulb is broken apart and each bulbule or “clove” makes a new compound bulb in a few weeks. Hardy; plant in early spring, or in the South in the fall. Plant 2 to 3 inches apart in the row.
Horseradish.—Widely used as an appetizer, and now grown commercially. As a kitchen-garden vegetable, this is usually planted in some out-of-the-way spot and a piece of the root dug as often as needed, the fragments of roots being left in the soil to grow for further use. This method results in having nothing but tough, stringy roots, very unlike the product of a properly planted and well-cared-for bed. A good horseradish root should be straight and shapely (Fig. 309).
The best horseradish is secured from sets planted in the spring at the time of setting early cabbage, and dug as late the same fall as the weather will permit. It becomes, therefore, an annual crop. The roots for planting are small pieces, from 4 to 6 inches long, obtained when trimming the roots dug in the fall. These pieces may be packed in sand and stored until wanted the following spring.
In planting, the roots should be set with the upper end 3 inches below the surface of the ground, using a dibber or sharp-pointed stick in making the holes. The crop may be planted between rows of early-sown beets, lettuce, or other crop, and given full possession of the ground when these crops are harvested. When the ground is inclined to be stiff or the subsoil is near the surface, the roots may be set in a slanting position. In fact, many gardeners practice this method of planting, thinking that the roots make a better growth and are more uniform in size.
Kale.—Under this name, a great variety of cabbage-tribe plants is grown, some of them reaching a height of several feet. Usually, however, the name is applied to a low-growing, spreading plant, extensively used for winter and spring greens.
The culture given to late cabbage is suitable. At the approach of severe freezing weather a slight protection is given in the North. The leaves remain green through the winter and may be gathered from under the snow at a time when material for greens is scarce. Some of the kales are very ornamental because of their blue and purple curled foliage. The Scotch Curled is the most popular variety. Let the plants stand 18 to 30 inches apart. Young cabbage plants are sometimes used as kale. Collards and borecole are kinds of kale. Sea-kale is a wholly different vegetable (which see).
Kales are extensively grown at Norfolk, Va., and southward, and shipped North in winter, the plants being started in late summer or in fall.
Kohlrabi is little known in the United States. It looks like a leafy turnip growing above ground.
If used when small (2 to 3 inches in diameter), and not allowed to become hard and tough, it is of superior quality. It should be more generally grown. The culture is very simple. A succession of sowings should be made from early spring until the middle of summer, in drills 18 inches to 2 feet apart, thinning the young plants to 6 or 8 inches in the rows. It matures as quickly as turnips. One ounce of seed to 100 feet of drill.