CABBAGES 
 
 AND 
 
 CAULIFLOWERS: 
 
 Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts and Kale 
 
 How to grow them : How to raise seed : How to keep 
 them : How to coofc ttiem : How to feed to stock 
 
 A practical treatise, giving full details on every point, including keeping 
 and marketing the crop. How to originate new varieties 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES J. H. GREGORY 
 
 Original introducer of the Marblehead, Deep Head, Warren, All Seasons, 
 and other Cabbages 
 
SQUASHES 
 
 HOW TO GROW THEM 
 
 PRICE, 30 CENTS, BY MAIL 
 
 This treatise is amply illustrated, and gives full particulars 
 on every point, including keeping and marketing the crop. 
 
 FERTILIZERS 
 
 Where the materials come from ; How to get 
 
 them in the cheapest form ; How to 
 
 make our own fertilizers 
 
 3^^ A new and enlarged edition, largely rewritten and 
 brought up to date, with all formulas priced. .=^ 
 
 In this work there will be found many valuable tables, with 
 many suggestions, and much information on the purchase of 
 materials, the combining of them, and the use of the fertilizers 
 made from them. I believe it will give a good return to any 
 of my customers for his outlay. The treatise makes a book 
 of 137 pages. 
 
 Price, by mail, 50 cents ; in cloth covers, 60 cents. 
 
Cabbages n^" Cauliflowers 
 
 no IF TO GROW THEM. 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE, GIVING FULL DETAILS ON EVERY POINT, 
 INCLUDING KEEPING AND MARKETING THE CROP, 
 
 REVISED EDlTlO?7. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 
 
 AUTHOR OF WORKS ON SQUASH RAISING. ONION RAISING. ETC.. STC. 
 
 ^rintfrs 
 
 .S. .1. Pakkmii.i. a Co.. Boston. U. S. A. 
 
 ■ 1908 
 

 LIBRARY of congress! 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 mis 30 isoo 
 
 OU. KXc No, 
 5 OPT J. • 
 
 CUSS 
 
 J 
 
 Entered according to Act of Consiress, in the year 1889, by 
 
 JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Wasliington, I>. C. 
 
 Copyright, 1908, by 
 
 JAMES J. H. GREGORY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Object of this Tkkatisi; 1 
 
 The Origin of Cabbage 1 
 
 What a Cabbage Is 2 
 
 Selecting the Soil 4 
 
 I'lJErAKIXG THE SoiL O 
 
 The Manure 8 
 
 How TO Apply the Manltkk 8 
 
 Making the Hills and Plantini. tiii; Skid H 
 
 Care of the YouNCt Plants It; 
 
 Protecting the Plants i i;om iiikik Kni;mii;s 18 
 
 The Green Worm 22 
 
 Club or Stump Foot and Mag<,()t 24 
 
 Care of the Growing Chop 29 
 
 Marketing the Crop 30 
 
 Keeping Cabbages through the Winter S2 
 
 Having Garbage make Heads in Wintki; ?,\) 
 
 Varieties of Cabbage 41-(i2 
 
 Savoy Cabbages ()2-i>-') 
 
 Other Varieties of Cabbage i>")-f)'.> 
 
 Cabbage Greens (il) 
 
 Cabbage for Stock 71 
 
 IIaising Cabp.age Seed To 
 
 Originating New V.\uieties of Cabp.ai.i; 77 
 
 Cooking Cabbage, Sour-Kroi t, i;i( 80 
 
 Cabbages under Glass 81 
 
 Cold Erame and Hot-Bed 8;> 
 
 Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussici.s-Sproits. Kale a.sd 
 
 Sea-Kale 8*! 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 OBJECT OF THIS TREATISE. 
 
 As a general, yet very thorough, response to in- 
 quiries from many of my customers about cabbage 
 raising, I have aimed in this treatise to tell them all 
 about the subject. The different inquiries made 
 from time to time have given me a pretty clear idea 
 of the many heads under which information is 
 wanted ; and it has been my aim to give this with 
 the same thoroughness of detail as in my little work 
 on' Squashes. I have endeavored to talk in a very 
 practical way, drawing from a large observation and 
 experience, and receiving, in describing varieties, 
 some valuable information from Mcintosh's work, 
 " The Book of the Garden." 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF CABBAGE. 
 
 Botanists tell us that all of the Cabbage family, 
 which includes not only every variety of cabbage, 
 Red, White, and Savoy, but all the cauliflower, broc- 
 coli, kale, and brussels sprouts, had their origin in 
 the wild cabbage of Europe (^Brassica oJeraceii)^ a 
 plant with green, wavy leaves, much resembling 
 charlock, found growing wild at Dover in England, 
 and other parts of Europe. This plant, says Mcintosh, 
 is mostly confined to the sea-shore, and grows only on 
 chalky or calcareous soils. 
 
2 CABBxlGES AND CAULIFLOWEES. 
 
 Thus through the wisdom of the Great Father of 
 us all, who occasionally in his great garden allows 
 vegetables to sport into a higher form of life, and 
 grants to some of these sports sufficient strength of 
 individuality to enable them to perpetuate them- 
 selves, and, at times, to blend their individuality with 
 that of other sports, we have the heading cabbage 
 in its numerous varieties, the creamy cauliflower, 
 the feathery kale, the curled savoy. On my own 
 grounds from a strain of seed that had been grown 
 isolated for years, there recently came a plant that 
 in its structure closely resembled Brussels Sprouts, 
 growing about two feet in height, with a small head 
 under each leaf. The cultivated cabbage was first 
 introduced into England by the Romans, and from 
 there nearly all the kinds cultivated in this country 
 were originally brought. Those which we consider 
 as peculiarly American varieties, have only been 
 made so by years of careful improvement on the 
 original imported sorts. The characteristics of these 
 varieties will be given farther on. 
 
 WHAT A CABBAGE IS. 
 
 If we cut vertically through the middle of the head, 
 we shall find it made up of successive layers of leaves, 
 which grow smaller and smaller, almost ad infinitum. 
 Now, if we take a fruit bud from an apple-tree and 
 make a similar section of it, we shall find the same 
 structure. If we observe the development of the 
 two, as spring advances, we shall find another simi- 
 larity (the looser the head the closer will be the re- 
 semblance), — the outer leaves of each will unwrap 
 and unfold, and a flower stem will push out from 
 each. Here we see that a cabbage is a bud, a seed 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 8 
 
 bud (as all fruit buds may be termed, the production 
 of seed being the primary object in nature, the fruit 
 enclosing it playing but a secondary part), the office 
 of the lea^■es being to cover, protect, and afterwards 
 nourish the young seed shoot. The outer leaves 
 which surround the head appear to have the same 
 office as the leaves which surround the growing fruit 
 bud, and that office closes with the first year, as does 
 that of the leaves surrounding fruit buds, when each 
 die and drop off. In my.locality the public must have 
 perceived more or less clearly the analogy between 
 the heads of cabbage and the buds of trees, for when 
 they speak of small heads they frequently call them 
 "buds." That the close wrapped leaves which make 
 the cabbage head and surround the seed germ, situated 
 just in the middle of the head at the termination of 
 the stump, are necessary for its protection and nutri- 
 tion when young, is proved, I think, by the fact that 
 those cabbages, the heads of which are much decayed, 
 when set out for seed, no matter how sound the seed 
 germ may be at the end of the stump, never make so 
 large or healthy a seed shoot as those do the heads of 
 which are sound; as a rule, after pushing a feeble 
 growth, they die. 
 
 For this reason I believe that the office of the head 
 is similar to and as necessary as that of the leaves 
 whicli unwrap from around the blossom buds of our 
 fruit trees. It is true that the parallel cannot be 
 fully maintained, as the leaves which make up the 
 cabbage head do not to an equal degree unfold (par- 
 ticularly is this true of hard heads) ; yet they exhibit 
 a vitality of their own, which is seen in the deeper 
 green color the outer leaves soon attain, and the 
 change from tenderness to toughness in their struc- 
 
4 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 ture : I think, therefore, that the degree of failure 
 in the parallel may be measured by the difference 
 between a higher and a lower form of organic life. 
 
 Some advocate the economy of cutting off a large 
 portion of the heads when cabbages are set out for 
 seed to use as food for stock. There is certainly a 
 great temptation, standing amid acres of large, solid, 
 heads in the early spring months, when green food 
 of all kinds is scarce, to cut and use such an immense 
 amount of rich food, which, to the inexperienced eye, 
 appears to be utterly wasted if left to decay, dry, and 
 fall to the ground ; but, for the reason given above, 
 I have never done so. It is possible that large heads 
 may bear trimming to a degree without injury to the 
 seed crop ; yet I should consider this an experiment, 
 and one to be tried with a good deal of caution. 
 
 SELECTING THE SOIL. 
 
 In some of the best cabbage-growing sections of 
 the country, until within a comparatively few years 
 it was the very general belief that cabbage w ould not 
 do well on upland. Accordingly the cabbage patch 
 would be found on the lowest tillage land of the farm. 
 No doubt, the lowest soil being the richer from a 
 gradual accumulation of the wash from the upland, 
 when manure was but sparingly used, cabbage would 
 thrive better there than elsewhere, — and not, as was 
 generally held, because that vegetable needed more 
 moisture than any other crop. Cabbage can be 
 raised with success on any good corn land, provided 
 such land is well manured ; and there is no more loss 
 in seasons of drouth on such land than there is in 
 seasons of excessive moisture on the lower tillage 
 land of the farm. I wish I could preach a very loud 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 5 
 
 sermon to all my farmer friends on the great value of 
 liberal manuring to carry crops successfully through 
 the effects of a severe drouth. Crops on soil precisely 
 alike, with but a wall to separate them, will, in a very 
 dry season, present a striking difference, — the one 
 being in fine vigor, and the other "suffering from 
 drouth," as the owner will tell you ; but, in reality, 
 from want of food. 
 
 The smaller varieties of cabbage will thrive well 
 on either light or strong soil, but the largest drum- 
 heads do best on strong soil. For the Bramica 
 family, including cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, etc., 
 there is no soil so suitable as freshly turned sod, 
 provided the surface is well fined by the harrow ; 
 it is well to have as stout a crop of clover or grass, 
 growing on this sod, when turned under, as possible, 
 and I incline to the belief that it would be a judicious 
 investment to start a thick growth of these by the 
 application of guano to the surface sufficiently long 
 before turning the sod to get an extra growth of the 
 clover or grass. If the soil be very sandy in char- 
 acter, I would advise that the variety planted be the 
 Winnigstadt, which, in my experience, is unexcelled 
 for making a hard head under almost any conditions, 
 however unpropitious. Should the soil be naturally 
 very wet it should be underdrained, or stump foot 
 will be very likely to appear, which is death to all 
 success. 
 
 PREPARING THE SOIL. 
 
 Should the soil be a heavy clay, a deep fall plough- 
 ing is best, that the frosts of winter may disintegrate 
 it ; and should the plan be to raise an early crop, 
 this end will be promoted by fall ploughing, on any 
 soil, as the land will thereby be made drier in early 
 
6 CABBAGES AND CAULirLOWEKS. 
 
 spring. In New England the soil for cabbages 
 should be ploughed as deep as the subsoil, and the 
 larger drumheads should be planted only on the 
 deepest soil. If the season should prove a favorable 
 one, a good crop of cabbage may be grown on sod 
 broken up immediately after a crop of hay has been 
 taken from it, provided plenty of fine manure is 
 harrowed in. One great risk here is from the dry 
 weather that usually prevails at that season, prevent- 
 ing the prompt germination of the seed, or rooting 
 of the plants. It is prudent in such a case to have 
 a good stock of plants growing on moister land, that 
 such as die may be promptly replaced. It is wise to 
 plant the seed for these a week earlier than the main 
 crop, for when transplanted to fill the vacant places 
 it will take about a week for them to get well rooted. 
 The manure may be spread on the surface of either 
 sod or stubble land and ploughed under, or be spread 
 on the surface after ploughing and thoroughly 
 worked into the soil by the wheel harrow. On 
 ploughed sod I have found nothing so satisfactory 
 as the class of wheel harrows, which not only cut the 
 manure up fine and work it well under, but by the 
 same operation cut and pulverize the turf until it 
 may be left not over an inch in thickness. To do 
 the work thus thoroughly requires a pair of stout 
 horses. All large stones and large pieces of turf that 
 are torn up and brought to the surface should be 
 carted off before making the hills. 
 
 THE MANURE. 
 
 Any manure but hog manure for cabbage, — barn 
 manure, rotten kelp, night-soil, guano, fertilizers, wood 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 7 
 
 ashes, fish, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house 
 manure. I have used all of these, and found them 
 all good wlien rightly applied. If pure hog manure 
 is used it is apt to produce that corpulent enlarge- 
 ment of the roots known in different localities as 
 "stump foot," "underground head," "finger and 
 thumb"; but I have found barn manure on which 
 hogs have run, as many as two hogs to each animal, 
 excellent. The cabbage is the rankest of feeders, 
 and to perfect the larger sort a most liberal allowance 
 of the richest composts is required. To grow the 
 smaller varieties, either barn-yard manure, guano, 
 fertilizers, or wood ashes, if the soil be in good 
 condition, will answer; though the richer and more 
 abundant the manure the larger are the cabbages, 
 and the earlier the crop will mature. 
 
 To perfect the large varieties of Drumhead, — by 
 which I mean to make tliem grow to the greatest 
 size possible, — I want a strong compost of barn-yard 
 manure, with night-soil and muck or fish-waste, and, 
 if possible, rotten kelp. A compost into which 
 night-soil enters as a component is best made by first 
 covering a plot of ground, of easy access, with soil 
 or muck that has been exposed to a winter's frost, 
 to the depth of about eighteen inches, raising around 
 this a' rim about three feet in height, and thick- 
 ness. Into this the night-soil is poured from carts 
 built for the purpose, until the receptacle is about 
 two thirds full. Barn manure is now added, being 
 dropped around and covering the outer rim, and, if 
 the supply is sufficient, on the top of the heap also, 
 on which it can be carted after cold weather sets 
 in. Early in spring, the entire mass should be 
 pitched over, thoroughly broken up with the bar and 
 
8 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 pick where frozen, and the frozen masses thrown on 
 the surface. In pitching over the mass, work the 
 rim in towards the middle of the heap. After the 
 frozen lumps have thawed, give the heap another 
 pitching over, aiming to mix all the materials 
 thoroughly together, and make the entire mass as 
 fine as possible. A covering of sand, thrown over 
 the heap, before the last pitching, will help fine it. 
 
 To produce a good crop ot cabbages, with a com- 
 post of this quality, twelve cords will be required to 
 the acre. If the land is in good heart, by previous 
 high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, 
 eight cords will give a fair crop of the small varie- 
 ties ; while, with the same conditions, twelve cords 
 to the acre will be required to perfect the largest 
 variety grown, the Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. 
 
 HOW TO APPLY THE MANURE. 
 
 The manure is sometimes applied wholly in the 
 hill, at other times partly broadcast and partly in the 
 hill. If the farmer desires to make the utmost use 
 of his manure for that season it will be best to put 
 most of it into the hill, particularly if his supply runs 
 rather short ; but if he desires to leave his land in 
 good condition for next year's crop he had better 
 use part of it broadcast. My own practice is to 
 use all my rich compost broadcast, and depend on 
 fertilizers, or hen manure in the hill. Let all guano, 
 if at all lumpy, like the Peruvian, be sifted, and let 
 all the hard lumps be reduced by pounding, until 
 the largest pieces shall not be larger than half a pea 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS, 9 
 
 before it is brought upon the ground. My land being 
 ready, the compost worked under and the rows 
 marked out, I select three trusty hands who can be 
 relied upon to follow faitlifully ray directions in 
 applying so dangerous manures as are fertilizers in 
 careless or ignorant hands ; one takes a bucket of it, 
 and, if for laige cabbage, drops as much as he can 
 readily close in his shut hand, where each hill is to 
 be ; if for small sorts, then about half that quantity, 
 spreading it over a circle about a foot in diameter; 
 the second man follows with a pronged hoe, or, better 
 yet, a six-tined fork, with which he works the guano 
 well into the soil, first turning it three or four inches 
 under the surface, and then stirring the soil very 
 thoroughly with the hoe or fork. Unless the fertil- 
 izer is faithfully mixed up with the soil the seed 
 will not vegetate. Give the second man about an 
 hour the start, and then let the third man follow 
 with the seed. Of hen manure a heaping handful to 
 each hill, after it has been finely broken up, and, if 
 moist, mixing it slightly with dry earth. When 
 salt is used it should be used in connection with 
 manures, at the rate of from ten to fifteen bushels 
 to the acre, applied broadcast over the ground, or 
 thoroughly mixed witli the manure before that is 
 applied ; if dissolved in the manure, better yet. 
 Salt itself is not a manure. Its principal office is to 
 change other materials into plant food. Fish and glue 
 waste are exceedingly powerful manures, very rich 
 in ammonia, and, if used tlie first season, they should 
 be in compost. It is best to handle liver waste pre- 
 cisely like night-soil. This liver waste is the refuse re- 
 maining after the oil has been extracted from the livers 
 of fish. It is found only in seaport towns. " Porgy 
 
10 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 cheese," or " chum," the refuse, after pressing out 
 the oil from menhaden and halibut heads and some- 
 times sold extensively for manure, is best prepared 
 for use by composting it with muck or loam, layer 
 with layer, at the rate of a barrel to every foot and 
 a half, cord measure, of soil. As soon as it shows 
 some heat, turn it, and repeat the process, two or 
 three times, until it is well decomposed, when apply. 
 Another excellent way to use fish waste is (o com- 
 post it with barn manure, in the open fields. It will 
 be best to have six inches of soil under the heap, and 
 not layer the fish with the lower half of the manure, 
 for it strikes down. Glue waste is a very coarse, 
 lumpy manure, and requires a great deal of severe 
 manipulation, if it is to be applied the first season. 
 A better way is to compost it with soil, layer with 
 layer, having each layer about a foot in thickness, 
 and so allow it to remain over until the next sea- 
 son, before using. This will decompose most of the 
 straw, and break down the hard, tough lumps. In 
 applying this to the crop, most of it had better be 
 used broadcast, as it is apt, at best, to be rather too 
 coarse and concentrated to be used liberally directly 
 in the hill. Slaughter-house manure should be 
 treated much like glue manure. 
 
 Mr. Proctor, of Beverly, has raised cabbage suc- 
 cessfully on strong clay soil, by spreading a compost 
 of muck containing fish waste, in which the fish is 
 well decomposed, at the rate of two tons of the fish 
 to an acre of land, after plowing, and then, having 
 made his furrows at the right distance apart, harrow- 
 ing the land thoroughly crossways with the furrows. 
 The result was, besides mixing the manure thor- 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 11 
 
 oughly with the soil, to land an extra proportion of it 
 in the furrows, which was equivalent to manuring in 
 the drill. 
 
 Cabbage can be raised on fertilizers alone, if 
 theser" are rich in nitrogen. I have raised some 
 crops in this way, but have been led to plough 
 in from four to six cords of good manure to the 
 acre, and then use from five hundred to a thousand 
 pounds of some good fertilizer in the hill. The rea- 
 son I prefer to use a portion of the cabbage food in 
 the form of manure, is, that I have noticed that when 
 the attempt is made to raise the larger drumhead 
 varieties on fertilizers only, the cabbages, just as the 
 heads are well formed, are apt to come nearly to a 
 standstill. I explain this on the supposition that they 
 exhaust most of the fertilizer, or some one of the in- 
 gredients that enter into it, during the earlier stage 
 of growth; perhaps from the fact that the food is in 
 so easily digestible condition, they use an over share 
 of it, and the fact that those fed on fertilizers only, 
 tend to grow longer stumped than usual, appears to 
 give weight to this opinion. Though any good fer- 
 tilizer is good for cabbage, yet I prefer those com- 
 pounded on the basis of an analysis of the composition 
 of the plants ; they should contain the three ingre- 
 dients, nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid, in the 
 proportion of six, seven, five, taking them in the order 
 in which I have written them. 
 
 MAKING THE HILLS AND PLANTING THE 
 SEED. 
 
 The idea is quite prevalent that cabbages will not 
 head up well except the plants are started in beds, 
 and then transplanted into the hills where they are 
 to mature. This is an error, so far as it applies to 
 
12 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 the Northern States, — the largest and most experi- 
 enced cultivators of cabbage in New England usually 
 dropping the seed directly where the plant is to stand, 
 unless they are first started under glass, or the piece 
 of land to be planted cannot be prepared in season to 
 enable the farmer to put his seed directly in the hill 
 and yet give the cabbage time sufficient to mature. 
 Where the climate is unpropitious, or the quantity of 
 manure applied is insufficient, it is possible that trans- 
 planting may promote heading. The advantages of 
 planting directly in the hill, are a saving of time, 
 avoiding the risks incidental to transplanting, and 
 having all the piece start alike ; for, when trans- 
 planted, many die and have to be replaced, while 
 some hesitate much longer than others before start- 
 ing, thus making a want of uniformity in the matur- 
 ing of the crop. There is, also, this advantage, there 
 being several plants in each hill, the cut-worm has to 
 depredate pretty severely before he really injures the 
 piece ; again, should the seed not vegetate in any of 
 the hills, every farmer will appreciate the advantage 
 of having healthy plants growing so near at hand that 
 they can be transferred to the vacant spaces with 
 their roots so undisturbed that their growth is hardly 
 checked. In addition to the labor of transplanting 
 saved by this plan, the great check that plants always 
 receive when so treated is prevented, and also the 
 extra risks that occur should a season of drouth fol- 
 low. It is the belief of some farmers, that plants 
 growing where the seed was planted are less liable to 
 be destroyed by the cut-worm than those that have 
 been transplanted. When planning to raise late cab- 
 bage on upland, I sow a portion of the seed on a moist 
 spot, or, in case a portion of the land is moist, I plant 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 13 
 
 the hills on such land with an extra quantity of seed, 
 that I may have enough plants for the whole piece, 
 should the weather prove to be too dry for the seed 
 to vegetate on the dryer portions of it. It is wise 
 to sow these extra plants about a week earlier, for 
 they will be put back about a week by transplanting 
 them. 
 
 Some of our best farmers drill their seed in with a 
 sowing machine, such as is used for onions, carrots, 
 and other vegetable crops. This is a very expeditious 
 way, and has the advantage of leaving the plants in 
 rows instead of bunches, as in the hill system, and 
 thus enables the hoe to do most of the work of thinning. 
 It has also this advantage : each plant being by itself 
 can be left much longer before thinning, and yet not 
 grow long in the stump, thus making it available for 
 transplanting, or for sale in the market, for a longer 
 period. 
 
 The usual way of preparing the hills is to strike out 
 furrows Avith a small, one-horse plough, as far apart 
 as the rows are to be. As it is very important that 
 the rows should be as straight as practicable, it is a 
 good plan to run back once in each furrow, particu- 
 larly on sod land where the plough will be apt to 
 catch in the turf and jump out of line. A manure 
 team follows, containing the dressing for the hills, 
 which has previously been pitched over and beaten 
 up until all the ingredients are fine and well mixed. 
 This team is so driven, if possible, as to avoid running 
 in the furrows. Two or three hands follow with forks 
 or shovels, pitching the manure into the furrows at 
 the distance apart that lias been determined on for 
 the hills. How far apart these are to be will depend 
 on the varieties, from eighteen inches to four feet. 
 
14 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 On land that has been very highly manured for a 
 series of years, cabbage can be planted nearer than on 
 land that has been under the plow but a few years. 
 For the distance apart for different varieties see 
 farther on. The manure is levelled with hoes, a little 
 soil is drawn over it, and a slight stamp with the 
 back of the hoe is given to level this soil, and, at the 
 same time, to mark the hill. The planter follows 
 with seed in a tin box, or any small vessel having a 
 broad bottom, and taking a small pinch between the 
 thumb and forefinger he gives a slight scratch with 
 the remaining fingers of the same hand, and dropping 
 in about half a dozen seed covers them half an inch 
 deep with a sweep of the hand, and packs the earth 
 by a gentle pat with the open palm to keep the 
 moisture in the ground and thus promote the vegeta- 
 tion of the seed. With care a quarter of a pound of 
 seed will plant an acre, when dropped directly in the 
 hills ; but half a pound is the common allowance, as 
 there is usually some Avaste from spilling, while most 
 laborers plant with a free hand. 
 
 The soil over the hills being very light and porous, 
 careless hands are apt to drop the seed too deep. 
 Care should be taken not to drop the seed all in one 
 spot, but to scatter them over a surface of two or 
 three inches square, that each plant may have room 
 to develop without crowding its neighbors. 
 
 If the seed is planted in a line instead of in a mass 
 the plants can be left longer before the final thinning 
 without danger of growing tall and weak. 
 
 If the seed is to be drilled in, it will be necessary 
 to scatter the manure all along the furrows, then 
 cover with a plough, roughly leveling with a rake. 
 
 Should the compost applied to the hills be very 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 15 
 
 concentrated, it will be apt to produce stump foot ; 
 it will, therefore, be safest in such cases to hollow 
 out the middle with the corner of the hoe, or draw 
 the hoe through and fill in with earth, that the 
 roots of the young plants may not come in direct 
 contact with the compost as soon as they begin to 
 
 ^'when rich fertilizers are used in the hills it 
 will be well to mark out the rows with a plough, 
 and then, where each hill is to be, fill in the soil level 
 to the surface with a hoe, before applying them, i 
 have, in a previous paragraph, given full instructions 
 how to apply these. Hen manure, if moist, should 
 be broken up very fine, and be mixed with some dry 
 earth to prevent it from again lumping together, and 
 the mixture applied in sufficient quantity to make an 
 equivalent of a heaping handful of pure hen manure 
 to each hill. Any liquid manure is excellent tor 
 the cabbage crop ; but it should be well diluted, or it 
 will be likely to produce stump foot. 
 
 Cabbage seed of almost all varieties are nearly 
 round in form, but are not so spherical as turnip 
 seed. I note, however, that seed of the Savoys are 
 nearly oval. In color they are light brown when 
 first gathered, but gradually turn dark brown if not 
 gathered too early. An ounce contains nearly ten 
 thousand seed, but should not be relied upon for 
 many over two thousand good plants, and these 
 are available for about as many hills only when 
 raised in beds and transplanted; when dropped 
 directly in the hills it will take not far from eight 
 ounces to plant an acre. Cabbage seed when 
 well cured and kept in close bags will retain their 
 
16 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 vitality four or five years ; old gardeners prefer seed 
 of all the cabbage family two or three years old. 
 
 When the plan is to raise the young plants in beds 
 to be transplanted, the ground selected for the beds 
 should be of rich soil ; this should be very thoroughly 
 dug, and the surface worked and raked very fine, 
 every stone and lump of earth being removed. Now 
 sprinkle the seed evenly over the bed and gently 
 rake in just under the surface, compacting the soil 
 by pressure with a board or plant in rows four inches 
 apart. As soon as the young plants appear sprinkle 
 them with air-slaked lime. Transplant when three 
 or four inches high, being very careful not to let the 
 plants get tall and weak. 
 
 For late cabbage, in the latitude of Boston, to 
 have cabbages ready for market about the first of 
 November, the Marblehead Mammoth should be 
 planted the 20th of May, other late drumheads 
 from June 1st to June 12th, provided the plants are 
 not to be transplanted; otherwise a week earlier. 
 In those localities where the growing season is later, 
 the seed should be planted proportionally later. 
 
 CARE OF THE YOUNG PLANTS. 
 
 In four or five days, if the weather is propitious, 
 the young plants will begin to break ground, pre- 
 senting at the surface two leaves, which together 
 make nearly a square, like the first leaves of turnips 
 or radishes. As soon as the third leaf is developed, 
 go over the piece, and boldly thin out the plants. 
 Wherever they are very thick, pull a mass of them 
 with the fingers and thumb, being careful to fill up 
 the hole made with fine earth. After the fourth leaf 
 is developed, go over the piece again and thin still 
 more ; you need specially to guard against a slender, 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEB,S. 17 
 
 weak growth, which will happen when the plants 
 are too crowded. In thinning, leave the short- 
 stumped plants, and leave them as far apart in the 
 hill as possible, that they may not shade each other, 
 or so interfere in growing as to make long stumps. 
 If there is any market for young plants, thousands 
 can be sold from an acre when the seed are planted 
 in the hill ; but in doing this bear in mind that your 
 principal object is to raise cabbages, and to succeed 
 in this the young plants must on no account be 
 allowed to stand so long together in the hills as to 
 crowd each other, making a tall, weak, slender 
 growth, — getting " long-legged," as the farmers call it. 
 
 If the manure in any of the hills is too strong, the 
 fact will be known by its effects on the plants, which 
 will be checked in their growth, and be of a darker 
 green color than the healthy plants. Gently pull 
 away the earth from the roots of such with the 
 fingers, and draw around fresh earth ; or, what is as 
 well or better, transplant a healthy plant just on the 
 edge of the hill. When the plants are finger high 
 they are of a good size to transplant into such hills 
 as have missed, or to market. When transplanting, 
 select a rainy day, if possible, and do not begin until 
 sufficient rain has fallen to moisten the earth around 
 the roots, which will make it more likely to adhere 
 to them when taken up. If rain sufficient for the 
 purpose has not fallen, then water thoroughly before 
 transplanting. Take up the young plants by run- 
 ning the finger or a trowel under them ; put these 
 into a flat basket or box, and in transplanting set 
 them fully to the same depth they originally grew, 
 pressing the earth a little about the roots. 
 
 If it is necessary to do the transj)lanting in a dry 
 spell, as usually liappens, select the latter part of the 
 afternoon, if practicable, and, making holes with a 
 
18 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 dibble, or any pointed stick an inch and a half in 
 diameter, fill these holes, a score or more at a time, 
 with water ; and as soon as the water is about soaked 
 away, beginning with the hole first filled, set out your 
 plants. The evaporation of the moisture below the 
 roots will keep them moist until they get a hold. 
 Cabbage plants have great tenacity of life, and will 
 rally and grow when they appear to be dead; the 
 leaves may all die, and dry up like hay, but if the 
 stump stands erect and the unfolded leaf at the toj) 
 of the stump is alive, the plant will usually survive. 
 When the plants are quite large, they may be used 
 successfully by cutting or breaking off the larger 
 leaves. Some advocate wilting the plants before 
 transplanting, piling them in the cellar a few days 
 before setting them out, to toughen them and get a 
 new setting of fine roots ; others challenge their vigor 
 by making it a rule to do all transplanting under the 
 heat of mid-day. I think there is not much of reason 
 in this latter course. The young plants can be set 
 out almost as fast as a man can walk, by holding the 
 roots close to one side of the hole made by the dibble, 
 and at the same moment pressing earth against them 
 with the other hand. 
 
 PROTECTING THE PLANTS FROM THEIR 
 ENEMIES. 
 
 As soon as they have broken through the soil, an 
 isnemy awaits them in the small black insect com- 
 monly known as the cabbage or turnip fly, beetle, or 
 flea. This insect, though so small as to appear to 
 the eye as a black dot, is very voracious and surpris- 
 ingly active. He apparently feeds on the juice of 
 the young plant, perforating it with small holes the 
 
CABBAGES AND CAXJLIFLOWEKS. 19 
 
 size of a pin point. He is so active when disturbed 
 that his motions cannot be followed by the eye, and 
 his sense of danger is so keen that only by cautiously 
 approaching the plant can he be seen at all. The 
 delay of a single day in protecting the young plants 
 from his ravages will sometimes be the destruction 
 of nearly the entire piece. Wood ashes and air-slaked 
 lime, or plaster, sprinkled upon the plants while the 
 leaves are moist from either rain or dew, afford almost 
 complete protection. The lime, ashes or plaster 
 should be applied as soon as the plant can be seen, 
 for then, when they are in their tenderest condition, 
 the fly is most destructive. I am not certain that 
 the alkaline nature of these affords the protection, or 
 whether a mere covering by common dust might not 
 answer equally well. Should the covering be washed 
 off by rain, apply it anew immediately after the rair 
 has ceased, and so continue to keep the young plarxcs 
 covered until the third or fourth leaves are developed 
 when they will have become too tough to serve as 
 food for this insect enemy. 
 
 A new enemy much dreaded by all cabbage raisers 
 will begin to make his appearance about the time the 
 flea disappears, known as the cut-worm. This worm 
 is of a dusky brown color, with a dark colored head, 
 and varies in size up to about two inches in length. 
 He burrows in the ground just below the surface, is 
 slow of motion, and does his mischievous work at 
 night, gnawing off the young plants close at the sur- 
 face of the ground. This enemy is hard to battle 
 with. If the patch be small, these worms can be 
 scratched out of their hiding places by pulling the 
 earth carefully away the following morning for a few 
 inches around the stump of the plant destroyed, when 
 
20 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 the rascals will usually be found half coiled together. 
 Dropping a little wood ashes around the plants close to 
 the stumps is one of the best of remedies ; its alkaline 
 properties burning his nose I presume. A tunnel of 
 paper put around the stump but not touching it, and 
 sunk just below the surface, is recommended as effi- 
 cacious ; and from the habits of the worm I should 
 think it would prove so. Perpendicular holes four 
 inches deep and an inch in diameter is said to catch 
 and hold them as effectively as do the pit falls of 
 Africa the wild animals. Late planted cabbage will 
 suffer little or none from this pest, as he disappears 
 about the middle of June. Some seasons they are 
 remarkably numerous, making it necessary to replant 
 portions of the cabbage patch several times over. I 
 have heard of as many as twenty being dug at 'dif- 
 ferent times the same season out of one cabbage hill. 
 The farmer who tilled that patch earned his dollars. 
 When the cabbage has a stump the size of a pipe stem 
 it is beyond the destructive ravages of the cut-worm, 
 and should it escape stump foot has usually quite a 
 period of growth free from the attacks of enemies. 
 Should the season prove unpropitious and the plant 
 be checked in its growth, it will be apt to become 
 "lousy," as the farmers term it, referring to its con- 
 dition when attacked by a small green insect known 
 as aphidte, which preys upon it in myriads ; when this 
 is the case the leaves lose their bright green, turn of 
 a bluish cast, the leaf stocks lose somewhat of their 
 supporting powers, the leaves curl up into irregular 
 shapes, and the lower layer turns black and drops off, 
 while the ground under the plant appears covered 
 with the casts or bodies of the insects as with a white 
 powder. When in this condition the plants are in a 
 very bad way. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 21 
 
 Considering the circumstances under which this 
 insect appears, usually in a very dry season, I hold 
 that it is rather the product than the cause of dis- 
 ease, as with the bark louse on our apple-trees ; as a 
 remedy I advocate sprinkling the plants with air- 
 slaked lime, watering, if possible, and a frequent and 
 thorough stirring of the soil with the cultivator and 
 hoe. The better the opportunities the cabbage have 
 to develop themselves through high manuring, suffi- 
 cient moisture, good drainage, and thorough cultiva- 
 tion, the less liable they are to be " lousy." As the 
 season advances there will sometimes be found 
 patches eaten out of the leaves, leaving nothing but 
 the skeleton of leaf veins ; an examination will show 
 a band of caterpillars of a light green color at work, 
 who feed in a compact mass, oftentimes a square, 
 with as much regularity as though under the best of 
 military discipline. The readiest way to dispose of 
 them is to break off the leaf and crush them under 
 foot. The common large red caterpillar occasionally 
 preys on the plants, eating large holes in the leaves, 
 especially about the head. When the cabbage plot 
 is bordered by grass land, in seasons when grass- 
 hoppers are plenty, they will frequently destroy the 
 outer rows, puncturing the leaves with small holes, 
 and feeding on them until little besides their skele- 
 tons remain. In isolated locations rabbits and other 
 vegetable feeders sometimes commit depredations. 
 The snare and the shot-gun are the remedy for these. 
 
 Other insects that prey upon the cabbage tribe, in 
 their caterpillar state, are the cabbage moth, white- 
 line, brown-eyed moth, large white garden butterfly, 
 white and green veined butterfly. All of these pro- 
 duce caterpillars, which can be destroyed either by 
 
22 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 application of air-slaked lime, or by removing the 
 leaves infested and crushing the intruders under 
 foot. The cabbage-fly, father-long-legs, the melli- 
 pedes, the blue cabbage-fly, brassy cabbage-flea, and 
 two or three other insect enemies are mentioned by 
 Mcintosh as infesting the cabbage fields of England ; 
 also three species of fungi known as white rust, mil- 
 dew, and cylindrosporium concentricum ; these last 
 are destroyed by the sprinkling of air-slaked lime 
 on the leaves. In this country, along the sea coast 
 of the northern section, in open-ground cultivation, 
 there is comparatively but little injury done by these 
 marauders, which are the cause of so much annoyance 
 and loss to our English cousins. 
 
 THE GREEN WORM. 
 
 A new and troublesome enemy to the cabbage 
 tribe which has made its appearance within a few 
 years, and spread rapidly over a large section of the 
 country, is a green worm, A^ithomia hrassiece. This 
 pest infests the cabbage tribe at all stages of its 
 growth ; it is believed to have been introduced into 
 this country from Europe, by the way of Canada, 
 where it was probably brought in a lot of cabbage. 
 It is the caterpillar of a white butterfly with black 
 spots on its wings. In Europe, this butterfly is 
 preyed on by two or more parasites, which keep it 
 somewhat in check ; but its remarkably rapid in- 
 crease in this country, causing a wail of lamentation 
 to rise in a single season from the cabbage growers 
 over areas of tens of thousands of square miles, 
 proved that when it first appeared it had reached 
 this country without its attendant parasites. 
 
 Besides this green worm, there are found in Europe 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 23 
 
 four varieties of butterfly variously marked, the 
 caterpillars from all of which make great havoc 
 among the cabbage tribe. 
 
 The most eifective destroyer of this, and about 
 every other insect pest, is what is known as the 
 " Kerosene Emulsion." This is made by churning 
 common kerosene with milk or soap until it is diffused 
 through the liquid. 
 
 Take one quart of kerosene oil and pour it into a 
 pint of hot water in which an ounce of common soap 
 has been dissolved ; churn this briskly while hot (a 
 force pump is excellent for this), and, when well 
 mixed, which will be in a few minutes, it will be of a 
 creamy consistency ; mix one quart to ten or twelve 
 of cold water, and spray or sprinkle it over the 
 plants with a force-pump syringe or a whisk broom. 
 
 Another remedy is pyre thrum. Use that which is 
 fresh; either blowing it on in a dry state with a 
 bellows, wherever the worm appears, or using it 
 diluted, at the rate of a tablespoonful to two gallons 
 of water ; applying as with the kerosene emulsion. 
 
 To protect the cabbage plant from its various enemies, our experi- 
 mental stations make some excellent suggestions: — 
 
 For Green Worm, Ijooper Worm, >Vel> Moth, and all other 
 insect enemies that work above ground, apply when vines are dry a 
 fine spray of arsenate of lead (it can be procured from any large 
 dealer in fertilizers), using five pounds to fifty gallons of water. Prob- 
 ably more than one application will be needed, as there may be four 
 or five generations of the green worm during the season. 
 
 For Root Magot discs of tarred paper (cost $2.00 per 1,000 by ex- 
 press) may be used around the plant when setting. 
 
 For Cut 'Worm drop by each plant a little ball of mash, made 
 from one pound of paris green to 60 pounds of bran, with molasses 
 enough to sweeten. A piece of shingle laid near the plant will be 
 likely to attract them beneath it. Collect and kill. 
 
24 CABBAGES AND CAULLFLOWERS. 
 
 CLUB OR STUMP FOOT AND MAGGOT. 
 
 The great dread of every cabbage grower is a 
 disease of the branching roots, producing a bunchy, 
 ghind-like enlargement, known in different localities 
 under the name of club foot, stump foot, underground 
 head, finger and thumb. The result is a check in 
 the ascent of the sap, which causes a defective vital- 
 ity. There are two theories as to the origin of club 
 foot ; one that it is a disease caused by poor soil, 
 bad cultivation, and unsuitable manures ; the other 
 that the iujury is done by an insect enemy, Curculio 
 contractus. It is held by some that the maggots at 
 the root are the progeny of the cabbage flea. This 
 I doubt. This insect, " piercing the skin of the root, 
 deposits its eggs in the holes, lives during a time on 
 the sap of the plant, and then escapes and buries 
 itself for a time in the soil." 
 
 If the wart, or gland-like excrescence, is seen while 
 transplanting, throw all such plants away, unless your 
 supply is short ; in such case, carefully trim off all 
 the diseased portions with a sharp knife. If the dis- 
 ease is in the growing crop, it will be made evident 
 by the drooping of the leaves under the mid-day sun, 
 leaves of diseased plants drooping more than those of 
 healthy ones, while they will usually have a bluer 
 cast. Should this disease show itself, set the culti- 
 vator going immediately, and follow with the hoe, 
 drawing up fresh earth around the plants, which will 
 encourage them to form new fibrous roots ; should 
 they do this freely, the plants will be saved, as the 
 attacks of the insect are usually confined to the coarse, 
 branching roots. Should the disease prevail as late 
 as when the plants have reached half their growth, 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 25 
 
 the chances are decidedly against raising a paying 
 crop. 
 
 When the land planted is too wet, or the manure 
 in the hill is too strong, this dreaded disease is liable 
 to be found on any soil ; but it is most likely to mani- 
 fest itself on soils that have been previously cropped 
 with cabbage, turnip, or some other member of the 
 Brassica family. 
 
 Farmers find that, as a rule, it is not safe to folloio 
 cahhage, riita haga, or any of the Brassica family., with 
 cabbage., unless three or four years have intervened be- 
 tween the crops; and I have known an instance in 
 growing the Marblehead Mammoth, where, though 
 five years had intervened, that portion of the piece 
 occupied by the previous crop could be distinctly 
 marked off by the presence of club-foot. 
 
 Singular as it may appear, old gardens are an ex- 
 ception to this rule. While it is next to impossible 
 to raise, in old gardens, a fair turnip, free from club- 
 foot, cabbages may be raised jear after year on the 
 same soil with impunity, or, at least, with but trifling 
 injury from that disease. This seems to prove, con- 
 trary to English authority, that club-foot in the turnip 
 tribe is the effect of a different cause from the same 
 disease in the cabbage family. 
 
 There is another position taken by Stephens in his 
 "Book of the Farm," which facts seem to disprove. 
 He puts forth the theory that "all such diseases arise 
 from poverty of the soil, either from want of manure 
 when the soil is naturally poor, or rendered effete by 
 over-cropping." There is a farm on a neck of land 
 belonging to this town (Marblehead, Mass.), which 
 has peculiar advantages for collecting sea kelp and 
 sea moss, and these manures are there used most lib- 
 
26 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 erally, particularly in the cultivation of cabbage, from 
 eight to twelve cords of rotten kelp, which is stronger 
 than barn manuie, and more suitable food for cab- 
 bage, being used to the acre. A few years ago, on a 
 change of tenants, the new incumbent heavily ma- 
 nured a piece for cabbage, and planted it ; but, as the 
 season advanced, stump-foot developed in every cab- 
 bage on one side of the piece, while all the remainder 
 were healthy. Upon inquiry, lie learned that, by 
 mistake, he had overlapped the cabbage plot of last 
 season just so far as the stump-foot extended. In this 
 instance, it could not have been that the cabbage suf- 
 fered for want of food ; for, not only was the piece 
 heavily manured that year and the year previous, but 
 it had been liberally manured through a series of 
 years, and, to a large extent, with the manure which, 
 of all others, the cabbage tribe delight in, rotten kelp 
 and sea mosses. I liave known other instances where 
 soil, naturally quite strong, and kept heavily manured 
 for a series of years, has shown stump-foot when cab- 
 bage were planted, with intervals of two and three 
 years between. My theory is, that the mere presence 
 of the cahhage causes stump-foot on succeeding crops 
 grown on the same soil. This is proved by the fact 
 that where a piece of land in grass, close adjoining a 
 piece of growing cabbage, had been used for stripping 
 them for market, when this was broken up the next sea- 
 son and planted to cabbage, stump-foot appeared only 
 on that portion where the Avaste leaves fell the year 
 previous. I have another instance to the same point, 
 told me by an observing farmer, that, on a piece of 
 sod land, on which he run his cultivator the year pre- 
 vious, wlien turning his horse every time he had cul- 
 tivated a row, he had stump-footed cabbage the next 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 27 
 
 season just as far as that cultivator went, dragging, 
 of course, a few leaves and a little earth from the 
 cabbage piece with it. Still, though the mere pres- 
 ence of cabbage causes stump-foot, it is a fact, that, 
 under certain conditions, cabbage can be grown on 
 the same piece of land year after year successfully? 
 with but very little trouble from stump-foot. In this 
 town (Marblehead), though, as I have stated, we 
 cannot, on our farms, follow cabbage with cabbage, 
 even with the highest of manuring and cultivation, 
 yet in the gardens of the town, on the same kind of 
 soil (and our soil is green stone and syenite, not natu- 
 rally containing lime), there are instances where cab- 
 bage has been successfully followed by cabbage, on 
 the same spot, for a quarter of a century and more. 
 In the garden of an aged citizen of this town, cab- 
 bages have been raised on the same spot of land for 
 over half a century. 
 
 The cause of stump foot cannot, therefore, be 
 found in the poverty of the soil, either from want of 
 manure or its having been rendered effete from over 
 cropping. It is evident that by long cultivation 
 soils gradually have diffused through them some- 
 thing that proves inimical to the disease that pro- 
 duces stump foot. I will suggest as probable that 
 the protection is afforded by the presence of some 
 alkali that old gardens are constantly acquiring 
 through house waste which is always finding its way 
 there, particularly the slops from the sink, which 
 abound in potash. This is rendered further probable 
 from the fact given by Mr. Peter Henderson, that, 
 on soils in this vicinity, naturally abounding in lime, 
 cabbage can be raised year following year with 
 almost immunity from stump foot. He ascribes this 
 
28 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 to the effects of lime in the soil derived from marine 
 shells, and recommends that lime from bones be used 
 to secure the same protection ; but the lime that 
 enters into the composition of marine shells is for the 
 most part carbonate of lime, whereas the greater 
 portion of that which enters into the composition 
 of bones is phosphate of lime. Common air-slaked 
 lime is almost pure carbonate of lime, and hence 
 comes nearer to the composition of marine shells 
 than lime from bones, and, being much cheaper, 
 would appear to be preferable. 
 
 An able farmer told me that by using wood ashes 
 liberally he could follow with cabbage the next sea- 
 son on the same piece. One experiment of my own 
 in this direction did not prove successful, where 
 ashes at the rate of two hundred bushels to the acre 
 were used ; and I have an impression that I have 
 read of a like want of success after quite liberal 
 applications of lime. In a more recent experiment, 
 on a gravelly loam on one of my seed farms in Mid- 
 dleton, Mass., where two hundi'ed bushels of un- 
 leached ashes were used per acre, three-fourths 
 broadcast, I have had complete success, raising as 
 good a crop as I ever grew the second year on the 
 same land, without a single stump foot on half an 
 acre. Still, it remains evident, I think, that nature 
 prevents stump foot by the diffusing of alkalies 
 through the soil, and I mistrust that the reason why 
 we sometimes fail with the same remedies is that we 
 have them mixed, rather than intimately combined, 
 with the particles of soil. 
 
 The roots of young plants are sometimes attacked 
 by a maggot, though there is no club root present. 
 A remedy for this is said to be in the pouring of a 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 29 
 
 little of bisulphide of carbon within a few inches of 
 the diseased plant. I have never tried it, but know 
 that there is no better insecticide. 
 
 As I have stated under another head, an attack of 
 club foot is almost sure to follow the use of pure 
 hog manure, whether it be used broadcast or in the 
 hill. About ten years ago I ventured to use hog 
 manure nearly pure, spread broadcast and ploughed 
 in. Stump foot soon showed itself. I cultivated 
 and hoed the cabbage thoroughly ; then, as they still 
 appeared sickly, I had the entire piece thoroughly 
 dug over with a six-tined fork, pushing it as deep 
 or deeper into the soil than the plough had gone, to 
 bring up the manure to tlie surface ; but all was of 
 no use ; I lost the entire crop. Yet, on another occa- 
 sion, stable manure on which hogs had been kept at 
 the rate of two hogs to each animal, gave me one 
 of the finest lots of cabbage I ever raised. 
 
 CARE OF THE GROWING CROP. 
 
 As soon as the young plants are large enough to be 
 seen with the naked eye, in with the cultivator and 
 go and return once in each row, being careful not to 
 have any lumps of earth cover the plants. Follow 
 the cultivator immediately with the hoe, loosening the 
 soil about the hills. The old rule with farmers is to 
 cultivate and hoe cabbage three times during their 
 growth, and it is a rule that works very well where 
 the crop is in good growing condition ; but if the 
 manure is deficient, the soil bakes, or the plants show 
 signs of disease, then cultivate and hoe once or twice 
 extra. " Hoe cabbage when wet," is another farmer's 
 axiom. In a small garden patch the soil may be 
 stirred among the plants as often as may be con- 
 
30 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 venient : it can do no harm ; cabbages relish tending, 
 though it is not necessary to do this every day, as 
 one enthusiastic cultivator evidently thought, who 
 declared that, by hoeing his cabbages every morning, 
 he had succeeded in raising capital heads. 
 
 If a season of drouth occurs when the cabbages 
 have begun to head, the heads will harden prema- 
 turely ; and then should a heavy rain fall, they will 
 start to make a new growth, and the consequence 
 will be many of them will split. Split or bursted 
 cabbage are a source of great loss to the farmer, and 
 this should be carefully guarded against by going fre- 
 quently over the piece when the heads are setting, 
 and starting every cabbage that appears to be about 
 mature. A stout-pronged potato hoe applied just 
 under the leaves, and a pull given sufficient to start 
 the roots on one side, will accomplish what is needed. 
 If cabbage that have once been started seem still 
 inclined to burst, start the roots on the other side. 
 Instead of a hoe they may be pushed over with the 
 foot, or with the hand. Frequently, heads that are 
 thus started will grow to double the size they had 
 attained when about to burst. There is a marked dif- 
 ference in this habit in different varieties of cabbage. 
 
 MARKETING THE CROP. 
 
 When preparing for market cabbages that have been 
 kept over winter, particularly if they are marketed 
 late in the season, the edges of the leaves of some of 
 the heads will be found to be more or less decayed ; 
 do not strip such leaves off, but with a sharp knife 
 cut clean off the decayed edges. The earlier the 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 31 
 
 variety the sooner it needs to be marketed, for, as a 
 rule, cabbages push their shoots in the spring in the 
 order of their earliness. If they have not been suffi- 
 ciently protected from the cold the stumps will often 
 rot off close to the head, and sometimes the rot will 
 include the part of the stump that enters the head. If 
 the watery-looking portion of the stump can be cut 
 clean out the head is salable ; otherwise it will be apt 
 to have an unpleasant flavor when cooked. As a rule, 
 cabbages for marketing should be trimmed into as 
 compact a form as possible ; the heads should be cut 
 off close to the stump, leaving two or three spare 
 leaves to protect them. They may be brought out 
 of the piece in bushel baskets, and be piled on the 
 wagon as high as a hay stack, being kept in place 
 by a stout canvas sheet tied closely down. In the 
 markets of Boston, in the fall of the year, they are 
 usually sold at a price agreed upon by the hundred 
 head ; this will vary not only with the size and quality 
 of the cabbage, but with the season, the crop, and the 
 quality in market on that particular day. Within a 
 few years I have known the range of price for the 
 Stone Mason or Fottler cabbage, equal in size and 
 quality, to be from |3 to $17 per hundred ; for the 
 Marblehead Mammoth from |6 to |25 per hundred. 
 Cabbages brought to market in the spring are usually 
 sold by weight or by the barrel, at from |1 to |4 per 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 The earliest cabbages carried to market sometimes 
 bring extraordinary prices ; and this has created a 
 keen competition among market gardeners, each 
 striving to produce the earliest, a difference of a week 
 in marketing oftentimes making a difference of one 
 half in the profits of the crop. Capt. Wyman, who 
 
32 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 half in the profits of the crop. As a rule, it is the 
 very early and the very late cabbages that sell most 
 profitably. Should the market for very late cabbages 
 prove a poor one, the farmer is not compelled to sell 
 them, no matter at what sacrifice, as would be the 
 case a month earlier ; he can pit them, and so keep 
 them over to the early spring market, which is almost 
 always a profitable one. In marketing in spring it 
 should be the aim to make sale before the crops of 
 spring greens become plenty, or the Florida-grown 
 crop reaches the market, as these replace the cabbage 
 on many tables. By starting cabbage in hot-beds a 
 crop of celery or squashes may follow them the same 
 season. 
 
 KEEPING CABBAGES THROUGH THE WINTER. 
 
 In the comparatively mild climate of England, 
 where there are but few days in the winter months 
 that the ground remains frozen to any depth, the hardy 
 cabbage grows all seasons of the year, and turnips 
 left during winter standing in the ground are fed to 
 sheep by yarding them over the different portions of 
 the field. With the same impunity, in the southern 
 portion of our own country, the cabbages are left unpro- 
 tected during the winter months ; and, in the warmer 
 portions of the South they are principally a winter 
 crop. As we advance farther North, we find that the 
 degree of protection needed is afforded by running 
 the plough along each side of the rows, turning the 
 earth against them, and dropping a little litter on top 
 of the heads. As we advance still farther northward, 
 we find sufficient protection given by but little more 
 than a rough roof of boards thrown over the heads, 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 33 
 
 after removing the cabbages to a sheltered spot and 
 setting them in the ground as near together as they 
 will stand without being in contact, with the tops of 
 the heads just level with the surface. 
 
 In the latitude of central New England, cabbages 
 are not secure from injury from frost with less than a 
 foot of earth thrown over the heads. In mild winters 
 a covering of half that depth will be sufficient; but 
 as we have no prophets to foretell our mild winters, 
 a foot of earth is safer than six inches. Where eel- 
 grass can be procured along the sea coast, or there 
 is straw or coarse hay to Si3are, the better plan is to 
 cover with about six inches of earth, and when this 
 is frozen sufficiently hard to bear a man's weight 
 (which is usually about Thanksgiving time), to 
 scatter over it the eel-grass, forest leaves, straw, or 
 coarse hay, to the depth of another six inches. Eel- 
 grass, which grows on the sandy flats under the ocean 
 along the coast, is preferred to any other covering as 
 it lays light and keeps in dead air which is a non- 
 conductor of heat. Forest leaves are next in value ; 
 but snow and water are apt to get among these and 
 freezing solid destroy most of their protecting value. 
 When I use forest leaves, I cover them with coarse 
 hay, and add branches of trees to prevent its being 
 blown away. In keeping cabbages through the winter, 
 three general facts should be borne in mind, viz. •' 
 that repeated freezing and thawing will cause them 
 to rot; that excessive moisture or warmth will also 
 cause rot; while a dry air, such as is found in most 
 cellars, will abstract moisture from the leaves, injure 
 the flavor of the cabbage, and cause some of the heads 
 to wilt, and the harder heads to waste. In the Middle 
 States we have mostly to fear the wet of winter, and 
 
34 CABBAGES AND CAULIPLOWEES. 
 
 the plan for keeping for that section shoukl, therefore, 
 have particularly in view protection from moisture, 
 while in the Northern States we have to fear the cold 
 of winter, and, consequently, our plan must there 
 have specially in view protection fiom cold. 
 
 When storing for winter, select a dry day, if pos- 
 sible, sufhciently long after rainy weather to have 
 the leaves free of water, — otherwise they will spout 
 it on to you, and make you the wettest and muddiest 
 scarecrow ever seen off a farm, — then strip all the 
 outer leaves from the head but the two last rows, 
 which are needed to protect it. Tliis may be readily 
 done by drawing in these two rows toward the head 
 with the left hand, while a blow is struck against 
 the remaining leaves with the fist of the right hand. 
 Next pull up the cabbages, which, if they are of 
 the largest varieties, may be expeditiously done by 
 a potato hoe. If they are not intended for seed 
 purposes, stand the heads down and stumps up until 
 the earth on the roots is somewhat dry, when it can 
 be mostly removed by sharp blows against the stump 
 given with a stout stick. In loading do not bruise 
 the heads. Select the place for keeping them in a 
 dry, level location, and, if in the North, a southern 
 exposure, where no water can stand and there can 
 be no wash. To make the pit, run the plough along 
 from two to four furrows, and throw out the soil 
 with the shovel to the requisite depth, which may 
 be from six to ten inches ; now, if the design is to 
 roof over the pit, the cabbages may be put in as 
 thickly as they will stand ; if the heads are solid 
 they may be either head up or stump up, and two 
 layers deep ; but if the heads are soft, then heads up 
 and one deep, and not crowded very close, that they 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEKS. 35 
 
 may hare room to make heads during the winter. 
 Having excavated an area twelve by six feet, set a 
 couple of posts in the ground midway at each end, 
 projecting about five feet above the surface ;, connect 
 the two by a joist secured firmly to the top of each, 
 and against this, extending to the ground just out- 
 side the pit, lay slabs, boards or poles, and cover the 
 roof that will be thus formed with six inches of straw 
 or old hay, and, if in the North, throw six or eight 
 inches of earth over this. Leave one end open for 
 entrance and to ah- the pit, closing the other end 
 with straw or hay. In the North close both ends, 
 opening one of them occasionally in mild weather. 
 
 When cabbages are pitted on a large scale this 
 system of roofing is too costly and too cumbersome. 
 A few thousand may be kept in a cool root cellar, by 
 putting one layer heads down, and standing another 
 layer heads up between these. Within a few years 
 farmers in the vicinity of Lowell, Mass., have pre- 
 served their cabbages over winter, on a large scale, 
 by a new method, Avith results that have been very 
 satisfactory. They cut off that portion of the stump 
 which contains the root ; strip off most of the outer 
 leaves, and then pile the cabbages in piles, six or 
 eight feet high, in double rows, with boards to keep 
 them apart, in cool cellars, wliich are built half out 
 of ground. The temperature of these, by the judi- 
 cious opening and closing of windows, is kept as 
 nearly as possibly at the freezing point. The com- 
 mon practice in the North, when many thousands 
 are to be stored for winter and spring sales, is to 
 select a southern exposure having the protection of 
 a fence or wall, if practicable, and, turning furrows 
 with the plough, throw out the earth with shovels, to 
 
36 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 the depth of about six inches ; the cabbages, stripped 
 as before described, are then stored closely together, 
 and straw or coarse hay is thrown over them to the 
 depth of a foot or eighteen inches. Protected thus 
 they are accessible for market at any time during 
 the winter. If the design is to keep them over till 
 spring, the covering may be first six inches of earth, 
 to be followed, as cold increases, with six inches of 
 straw, litter, or eel-grass. This latter is my own prac- 
 tice, with the addition of leaving a ridge of earth be- 
 tween every three or four rows, to act as a support 
 and keep the cabbages from falling over. I am, also, 
 careful to bring the cabbages to the pit as soon as 
 pulled, with the earth among the roots as little dis- 
 turbed as possible ; and, should the roots appear to be 
 dry, to throw a little earth over them after the cab- 
 bages are set in the ^trench. The few loose leaves 
 remaining will prevent the earth from sifting down 
 between the heads, and the air chambers thus made 
 answer a capital purpose in keeping out the cold, as 
 air is one of the best non-conductors of heat. It is 
 said that muck-soil, when well drained, is an excellent 
 one to bury cabbage in, as its antiseptic properties 
 preserve them from decay. If the object is to pre- 
 serve the cabbage for market purposes only, the heads 
 may be buried in the same position in which they 
 grew, or they may be inverted, the stump having no 
 value in itself ; but if for seed purposes, they must be 
 buried head up, as, whatever injures the stump, spoils 
 the whole cabbage for that object. I store between 
 ten and fifty thousand heads annually to raise seed 
 from, and carry them through till planting time with 
 a degree of success varying from a loss, for seed pur- 
 poses, of from one-half to thirty-three per cent, of the 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEllS. 37 
 
 number buried ; but, if handled early in spring, many 
 that would be worthless for seed purposes, could be 
 profitably marketed. A few years since, I buried a 
 lot with a depth varying from one to four feet, and 
 found, on uncovering them in the spring, that all had 
 kept, and apparently equally well. In the winter of 
 1868, excessively cold weather came very early and 
 unexpectedly, before my cabbage plot had leceived 
 its full covering of litter. The consequence was, the 
 frost penetrated so deep that it froze through the 
 heads into the stumps, and, when spring came, a large 
 portion of them came out spoiled for seed purposes, 
 though most of them sold readily in the market. A 
 cabbage is rendered worthless for seed when the frost 
 strikes through the stump where it joins the head-, 
 and though, to the unpractised eye, all may appear 
 right, yet, if the heart of the stump has a water-soaked 
 appearance on being cut into, it will almost uniformly 
 decay just below the head in the course of a few weeks 
 after having been planted out. If there is a proba- 
 bility that the stumps have been frozen through, 
 examine the plot early, and, if it proves so, sell the 
 cabbages for eating purposes, no matter how sound 
 and handsome the heads look ; if you delay until time 
 for planting out the cabbage for seed, meanwhile 
 much waste will occur. I once lost heavily in Mar- 
 blehead Mammoth cabbage by having them buried on 
 a hill-side with a gentle slope. In the course of the 
 winter they fell over on their sides, which let down 
 the soil from a1)ove, and, closing the air-chambers 
 between them, brought the huge heads into a mass, 
 and the result was, a large proportion of them rotted 
 badly. At another time, I lost a whole plot by bury- 
 ing them in soil between ledges of rock, which kept 
 
38 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 the ground very wet wlien spring opened ; the conse- 
 quence was, every cabbage rotted. If the heads are 
 frozen more than two or three leaves deep before they 
 are pitted they will not come out so handsome in the 
 spring ; but cabbages are very hardy, and they readily 
 rally from a little freezing, either in the open ground 
 or after they are buried, though it is best, when they 
 are frozen in the open ground, to let them remain 
 there until the frost comes out before removing them, 
 if it can be done without too much risk of freezing 
 still deeper, as they handle better then, for, being 
 tougher, the leaves are not so easily broken. If the 
 soil is frozen to any depth before the cabbages are 
 removed, the roots will be likely to be injured in the 
 pulling, a matter of no consequence if the cabbages 
 are intended for market, but of some importance if 
 they are for seed raising. Large cabbages are more 
 easily pulled by giving them a little twist ; if for seed 
 purposes, this should be avoided, as it injures the 
 stump. A small lot, that are to be used within a 
 month, can be kept hung up by the stump in the 
 cellar of a dwelling-house ; they will keep in this way 
 until spring ; but the outer leaves will dry and turn 
 yellow, the heads shrink some in size, and be apt to 
 lose in quality. Some practise putting clean chopped 
 straw in the bottom of a box or barrel, wetting it, and 
 covering with heads trimmed ready for cooking, add- 
 ing again wet straw and a layer of heads, so alter- 
 nating until the barrel or box is filled, after which it 
 is headed up and kept in a cool place, at, or a little 
 below, the freezing point. No doubt this is an excel- 
 lent way to preserve a small lot, as it has the two 
 essentials to success, keeping them cool and moist. 
 Instead of burying them in an upright position, 
 
cabbagp:s and cauliflowers. 39 
 
 after a deep furrow lias been made the cabbages are 
 sometimes laid on their sides two deep, with their 
 roots at the bottom of the furrow, and covered with 
 earth in this position. Where the winter climate is 
 so mild that a shallow covering will be sufficient 
 protection, this method saves much labor. 
 
 HAVING CABBAGE MAKE HEADS IN WINTER. 
 
 When a piece of drumhead has been planted very- 
 late (sometimes they are planted on ground broken 
 up after a crop of hay has been taken from it the 
 same season), there will be a per cent, of the plants 
 when the growing season is over that have not 
 headed. With care almost all of these can be made 
 to head during the winter. A few years ago I selected 
 my seed heads from a large piece and then sold the 
 first " pick " of what remained at ten cents a head, 
 the second at eight cents, and so down until all 
 were taken for which purchasers were willing to give 
 one cent each. Of course, after such a thorough 
 selling out as this, there was not much in the shape 
 of a head left. I now had what remained pulled up 
 and carted awaj^, doubtful whether to feed them to 
 the cows or to set them out to head up during 
 winter. As they were very healthy plants in the 
 full vigor of growth, having rudimentary heads just 
 gathering in, I determined to set them out. I had a 
 pit dug deep enough to bring the tops of the heads, 
 when the plants were stood upright as they grew, 
 just above the surface of the ground ; I then stood 
 the cabbages in without breaking off any of the 
 leaves, keeping the roots well covered with earth, 
 having the plants far enough apart not to crowd 
 each other very much, though so near as to press 
 
40 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 somewhat together the two outer circles of leaves. 
 They were allowed to remain in this condition until 
 it was cold enough to freeze the ground an inch in 
 thickness, when a covering of coarse hay was thrown 
 over them a couple of inches thick, and, as the 
 cold increased in intensity, this covering was in- 
 creased to ten or twelve inches in thickness, the 
 additions being made at two or three intervals. In 
 the spring I uncovered the lot, and found that nearly 
 every plant had headed up. I sold the heads for 
 four cents a pound ; and these refuse cabbages aver- 
 aged me about ten cents a head, which was the price 
 my best heads brought me in the fall. I have seen 
 thousands of cabbages in one lot, the refuse of several 
 acres that had been planted on sod land broken up 
 the same season a crop of hay had been taken from 
 it, made to head by this course, and sold in the 
 spring for f 1.30 per barrel. When there is a large 
 lot of such cabbages the most economical way to 
 plant them will be in furrows made by the plough. 
 Most of the bedding used in covering them, if it be 
 as coarse as it ought to be to admit as much air as 
 possible while it should not mat down on the cab- 
 bages, will, with care in drying, be again available 
 for covering another season, or remain suitable for 
 bedding purposes. These " winter-headed " cab- 
 bages, as they are called in the market, are not so 
 solid and have more shrinkage to them than those 
 headed in the open ground ; hence they will not 
 bear transportation as well, neither will they keep as 
 long when exposed, to the air. The effect of winter- 
 ing cabbage by burying in the soil is to make them 
 exceedingly tender for table use. We never raise 
 seed from these winter heading cabbages. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEES. 41 
 
 VARIETIES OF CABBAGE. 
 
 If a piece of land is planted witli seed crossed from 
 two heads of cabbage tlie product will bear a strik- 
 ing resemblance to tlie two parent cabbages, with a 
 third variety which will combine the characteristics 
 of these two, yet the resemblance will be somewhat 
 modified at times by a little more manure, a little 
 higher culture, a little better location, and the addi- 
 tion of an individuality that particular vegetables 
 occasionally take upon themselves which we desig- 
 nate by the word "sport." The " sports" when 
 they occur are fixed and perpetuated with remarka- 
 ble readiness in the cabbage family, as is proved by 
 a great number of varieties in cultivation, which are 
 the numerous progeny of one ancestor. The cata- 
 logues of the English and French seedsm.en contain 
 long lists of varieties, many of which (and this is 
 especially true of the early kinds) are either the 
 same variety under a different name or are different 
 " strains " of the same variety produced by the care- 
 ful selections of prominent market gardeners through 
 a series of years. 
 
 Every season I experiment with foreign and 
 American varieties of cabbage to learn the charac- 
 teristics of the different kinds, their comparative 
 earliness, size, shape, and hardness of head, length of 
 stump, and such other facts as would prove of value 
 to market gardeners. There is one fact that every 
 careful experimenter soon learns, that one season 
 will not teach all that can be known relative to a 
 variety, and that a number of specimens of each kind 
 must be raised to enable one to make a fair compari- 
 son. It is amusing to read the dicta which appear 
 
42 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 in tlie agricultural j)ress from those who have made 
 but a single experiment with some vegetable ; they 
 proclaim more after a single trial than a cautious 
 experimenter would dare to declare after years spent 
 in careful observation. The year 1869 I raised over 
 sixty varieties of cabbage, importing nearly complete 
 suites of those advertised by the leading English and 
 French seed houses, and collecting the principal kinds 
 raised in this country. In the year 1888, I grew 
 eighty-five different varieties and strains of cabbages 
 and cauliflowers. I do not propose describing all 
 these in this treatise or their comparative merits ; of 
 some of them I have yet something to learn, but I 
 will endeavor to introduce with my description such 
 notes as I think will prove of value to my fellow 
 farmers and market gardeners. 
 
 I will here say in general of the class of early 
 cabbages, that most of them have elongated heads 
 between ovoid and conical in form. They appear to 
 lack in this country the sweetness and tenderness 
 that characterize some varieties of our drumhead, 
 and, consequently, in the North when the drumhead 
 enters the market there is but a limited call for 
 them. 
 
 It may be well here to note a fundamental dis- 
 tinction between the drumhead cabbage of England 
 and those of this country, In England the drum- 
 head class are almost wholly raised to feed to stock. 
 I venture the conjecture that owing in part, or prin- 
 cipally, to the fact European gardeners have never 
 had the motive, they, consequently, have never devel- 
 oped the full capacity of the drumhead as exampled 
 by the fine varieties raised in this country. The 
 securing of sorts reliable for heading being with them 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEES. 43 
 
 a matter of secondaiy consideration, seed is raised 
 from stumps or any refuse heads that may be stand- 
 ing when spring comes round. For this reason 
 English drumhead cabbage seed is better suited to 
 raise a mass of leaves than heads, and always disap- 
 points our American farmers who buy it because it 
 is cheap with the expectation of raising cabbage for 
 market. English-grown drumhead cabbage seed is 
 utterly worthless for use in this country except to 
 raise greens or collards. 
 
 The following are foreign varieties that are ac- 
 cepted in this country as standards, and for years 
 have been more or less extensively cultivated. In 
 my experience as a seed dealer, the Sugar Loaf, 
 Early York and Oxheart are losing ground in the 
 farming community, the Early Jersey Wakefield 
 having, to a large extent, replaced them. 
 
 Early York. Heads nearly ovoid, rather soft, 
 with few waste leaves surrounding them, which are 
 of a bright green color. Reliable for heading. Stump 
 rather short. Plant two feet by eighteen inches. 
 This cabbage has been cultivated in England over a 
 hundred years. Little Pixie, with me, is earlier 
 than Early York, as reliable for heading, heads much 
 harder, and is of better flavor ; the heads do not grow 
 quite as large. 
 
 Early Oxheart. Heads nearly egg-shaped, small, 
 hard, few waste leaves, stumps short. A little later 
 than Early York. Have the rows two feet apart, 
 and the plants eighteen inches apart in the row. 
 
 Early Winnigstadt (a German cabbage). Heads 
 nearly conical in shape, having usually a twist of leaf 
 
44 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 at the top ; larger than Oxheart, are harder than any 
 of the early oblong heading cabbages; stumps mid- 
 dling short ; matures about ten days later than 
 Early York. The Winnigstadt is remarkably reliable 
 for heading, being not excelled in this respect, when 
 the seed has been raised with care, by any cabbage 
 grown. It is a capital sort for early market outside 
 our large cities, where the very early kinds are not 
 so eagerly craved. It is so reliable for heading that 
 it will often make fine heads where other sorts fail ; 
 and I would advise all who have not succeeded in 
 their efforts to grow cabbage to try this before giving 
 up their attempts. It is raised by some for winter 
 use, and where the Drumheads are not so successfully 
 raised, I would advise my farmer friends to tr}^ the 
 Winnigstadt, as the heads are so hard that they keep 
 without much waste. Have rows two feet apart, and 
 plant twenty inches to two feet apart in the rows. 
 
 Red Drumhead. It is very difficult to raise seed 
 from this cabbage in this country. I am acquainted 
 with five trials, made in as many different years, two 
 of which I made myself, and all were nearly utter 
 failures, the yield, when the hardest heads were 
 selected, being at about the rate of two great spoon- 
 fuls of seed from every twenty cabbages. French 
 seed-growers are more successful, otherwise this seed 
 would have to sell at a far hig-her ficjure in the market 
 than any other sort. 
 
 The Little Pixie has much to recommend it, in 
 earliness, quality, reliability for heading, and hard- 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 45 
 
 ness of the head ; earlier than Early York, though 
 somewhat smaller. 
 
 Among those that deserve to be heartily welcomed 
 and grow in favor are the Early Ulm Savoy (for 
 engraving and description of which see under head 
 of Savoy), and the St. Dennis Drumhead, a late, 
 short-stumped sort, setting a large, round, very solid 
 head, as large, but harder, than Premium Flat Dutch. 
 The leaves are of a bluish-green, and thicker than 
 those of most varieties of Drumhead. Our brethren 
 in Canada think highly of this cabbage, and if we 
 want to try a new Drumhead I will speak a good 
 word for this one. 
 
 Early Schweinfurt, or Schweinfurt Quintal, is an 
 excellent early Drumhead for family use ; the heads 
 range in size from ten to eighteen inches in diameter, 
 varying with the conditions of cultivation more than 
 any other cabbage I am acquainted with. They are 
 flattish round, weigh from three to nine pounds when 
 well grown, are very symmetrical in shape, standing 
 apart from the surrounding leaves. They are not 
 solid, though they have the finished appearance that 
 solidity gives ; they are remarkably tender, as though 
 blanched, and of very fine flavor. It is among the 
 earliest of Drumheads, maturing at about the same 
 time as the Early Winnigstadt. As an early Drum- 
 head for the family garden it has no superior ; and 
 where the market is near, and does not insist that a 
 cabbage head must be hard to be good, it has proved 
 a very profitable market sort. 
 
 The following are either already standard Ameri- 
 can varieties of cabbage, or such as are likely soon 
 
46 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 to become so ; very possibly there are two or three 
 other varieties or strains that deserve to be included 
 in the list. I give all that have proved to be first 
 class in my locality: Early Wakefield, Early 
 Summer, All Seasons, Hard Heading, Succes- 
 sion, Warren, Vandergaw, Newark Flat 
 Dutch, Premium Flat Dutch, Stone-Mason, 
 Large Late Drumhead, Marblehead Mammoth 
 Drumhead, Fottler's Drumhead, Bergen 
 Drumhead, Drumhead Savoy and American 
 Green Globe Savoy, Avery, Volga, Twiss, 
 Glory of Enkhuison, Houser, Deep Head, 
 Danish Winter Ball Head, Hollander, Sure 
 Head and Solid Emperor. All of these varieties, 
 as I have previously stated, are but improvements of 
 foreign kinds ; but they are so far improved, through 
 years of careful selection and cultivation, that, as a 
 rule, they appear quite distinct from the originals 
 when grown side by side with them, and this dis- 
 tinction is more or less recognized, in both English 
 and American catalogues, by the adjective "Ameri- 
 can " or " English " being added after varieties bear- 
 ing the same name. • 
 
 Early Wakefield, sometimes called Early Jersey 
 Wakefield. Heads mostly nearly conical in shape, 
 but sometimes nearly round, of good size for early, 
 very reliable for heading ; stumps short. A very- 
 popular early cabbage in the markets of Boston and 
 New York. Plant two and a half feet by two feet. 
 There are two strains of this cabbage, one a little 
 later and laro-er than the other. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 47 
 
 Charleston Wakefield, or Early Wyman. Capt. 
 Wyman, of Cambridge, was doubtless the originator. 
 Like Early Wake- 
 field, the heads are 
 usually somewhat 
 conical, but some- 
 times nearly round ; 
 in structure they are 
 compact. In earli- 
 ness it ranks about 
 with the Early 
 Wakefield, and 
 making heads of 
 double the size, it has a high value as an early cab- 
 bage. Capt. Wyman had entire control of this cab- 
 bage for many years, and consequently held Boston 
 market in his own hands, to the chagrin of his 
 fellow market-gardeners, raising some seasons as 
 many as thirty thousand heads. Have the rows 
 from two to two and a half feet apart, and the 
 plants from twenty to twenty-four inches apart m 
 the row. Crane's Early is a cross between the Wyman 
 and Wakefield, iutermediate in size and earliness. 
 
48 
 
 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 Premium Flat Dutch. Large, late variety ; heads 
 either round or flat on the top (varying with differ- 
 ent strains) ; rather hard ; color bluish green ; leaves 
 around heads rather numerous : towards the close of 
 
 the season the edge of some of the exterior leaves 
 and the top of the heads assume a purple cast. 
 The edges of the exterior leaves and of the two or 
 three that make the outside of the head are quite 
 ruffled, so that Avhen grown side by side with Stone- 
 Mason this distinction between the habit of growth 
 of the two varieties is noticeable at quite a distance. 
 Stumps short; reliable for heading. Have the rows 
 three feet apart, and the plants from two and a half 
 to three feet apart in the rows. This cabbage is 
 very widely cultivated, and in many respects is an 
 excellent sort to raise for late marketing. There are 
 several strains of it catalogued by different seedsmen 
 under various names, such as Sure Head, etc. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 49 
 
 Stone-Mason. An improvement on the Mason, 
 which cabbage was selected by Mr. John Mason, of 
 Marblehead, from a number 
 of varieties of cabbage that ^/^r-TjliJ^'' 
 came from a lot of seed i 
 
 purchased and planted as |||| 
 Savoys. Mr. John Stone " 
 
 wtfm 
 afterwards improved upon 
 the Mason cabbage by in- 
 creasing the size of the 
 heads, and I therefore gave 
 his name to the new variety. Different growers 
 differ in their standard of a Stone-Mason cabbage in 
 earliness and lateness, and in the size, form and 
 hardness of the head. But all these varieties agree 
 in the characteristics of being very reliable for head- 
 ing, in having heads which are large, very hard, 
 very tender, rich and sweet, short stumps and few 
 waste leaves. The color of the leaves varies from a 
 bluish green to a pea-green, and the structure from 
 nearly smooth to much blistered. In their color and 
 blistering some specimens have almost a Savoy cast. 
 The heads of the best varieties of Stone-Mason ranofe 
 in weight from six to twenty-five pounds, the differ- 
 ence turning mostly on soil, manure and cultivation. 
 The Stone-Mason is an earlier cabbage than Pre- 
 mium Flat Dutch, has fewer waste leaves, and side 
 by side, under high cultivation, grows to an equal or 
 larger size, while it makes heads that are decidedly 
 harder and sweeter. These cabbages are equally 
 reliable for lieading. I am inclined to the opinion 
 that under poor cultivation the Premium Flat Dutch 
 will do somewliat better than the Stone-Mason. I re- 
 gret that of late yeai's this fine variety has some seasons 
 shown a tendency to rot at the stump while growing. 
 
50 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 Until the introduction of Fottler's Drumhead it 
 was the standard drumhead cabbage in the markets 
 of Boston and other hirge cities of the North. Have 
 the rows three feet apart, and the plants from two 
 to three feet apart in the row. 
 
 Large Late Drumhead. Heads large, round, 
 sometimes flattened at the top, close and firm ; loose 
 leaves numerous; stems short ; reliable for heading, 
 hardy, and a good keeper. The name " Large Late 
 Drumhead " includes varieties raised by several 
 seedsmen in this country, all of which resemble each 
 other in the above characteristics, and differ in but 
 minor points. Have rows three feet apart, and 
 plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the 
 row. 
 
 Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. Tliis is the 
 largest of the cabbage family, having sometimes been 
 grown to weigh over ninety pounds to the plant. It 
 originated in Marblehead, Mass., being produced by 
 Mr. Alley, probably from the Mason, by years of 
 high cultivation and careful selection of seed stock. 
 I introduced this cabbage and the Stone Mason to 
 the general public many years ago, and it has been 
 pretty thoroughly disseminated throughout the United 
 States. Heads varying in shape between hemispheri- 
 cal and spherical, with but few waste leaves surround- 
 ing them ; size very large, varying from fifteen to 
 twenty inches in diameter, and, in some specimens, 
 they have grown to the extraordinary dimensions 
 of twenty-four inches. In good soil, and with the 
 highest culture, this variety has attained an average 
 weight of thirty pounds by the acre. Quality, when 
 well grown, remarkably sweet and tender, as would 
 be inferred from the rapidity of its growth. Culti- 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 51 
 
 vate in rows four feet apart, and allow four feet 
 between the plants in the rows. Sixty tons of this 
 variety have been raised from a single acre. 
 
 American Green Glazed. Heads loose, though 
 rather large, with a great body of waste leaves sur- 
 rounding them; quality poor; late; stump long. 
 This cabbage was readily distinguished among all 
 the varieties in my experimental plot by the deep, 
 rich green of the leaves, with their bright lustre as 
 though varnished. It is grown somewhat extensively 
 in the South, as it is believed not to be so liable to 
 injury from insects as other varieties. Plant two and 
 a half feet apart each way. I would advise my 
 Southern friends to try the merits of other kinds 
 before adopting this poor affair. I know, through 
 my correspondence, that the Mammoth has done 
 well as far South as Louisiana and Cuba, and the 
 Fottler, in many sections of the South, has given 
 great satisfaction, 
 
 Fottler's Early Drumhead. Several years ago a 
 Boston seedsman 
 imported a lot of 
 cabbage seed from 
 Europe, under the 
 name of Early 
 Brunswick Short 
 Stemmed. It prov- 
 ed to be a large 
 heading and very 
 early Drumhead. 
 The heads were 
 from eight to eigh- 
 teen inches in dia- 
 meter nearly flat. 
 
52 
 
 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 hard, sweet, and tender in quality ; few waste 
 leaves; stump short. In earliness it was about a 
 fortnight ahead of the Stone-Mason. It was so much 
 liked by the market gardeners that the next season 
 he ordered a larger quantity ; but the second importa- 
 tion, though ordered and sent under the same name, 
 proved to be a different and inferior kind, and the 
 same result followed one or two other importations. 
 The two gardeners who received seed of the first 
 
 Vangergaw Cabbage. 
 
 importation brought to market a fine, large Drum- 
 head, ten days or a fortnight ahead of their fellows. 
 The seed of the true stock was eagerly ])ought up l)y 
 the Boston market gardeners, most of it at five dol- 
 lars an ounce. After an extensive trial on a large 
 scale by the market farmers around Boston, and by 
 farmers in various parts of the United States, Fottler's 
 
CABBAGES AND CAtJLIFLOWERS. 
 
 53 
 
 Cabbage has given great satisfaction, and become a 
 universal favorite, and when once known it, and 
 especially the improved strain of it, known as Deep 
 Head, is fast replacing some of the old varieties of 
 Drumhead. Very reliable for heading. 
 
 VANDERGAW CABBAGE. 
 
 This new Long Island Cabbage must be classed as 
 A No. 1 for the midsummer and late market. It is 
 as sure to head as the Succession, and has some ex- 
 cellent characteristics in common. 
 
 It makes large, green heads, hard, tender, and 
 crisp. This is an acquisition. 
 
 THE WARREN CABBAGE. 
 
 This first-class cabbage is closely allied to, but 
 an improvement on, the old Mason cabbage of 
 many years ago. It makes a head deep, round and 
 
54 
 
 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 very hard, the outer leaves wrapping it over very 
 handsomely. In reliability for heading no cabbage 
 surpasses it ; a field of them when in their prime is as 
 pretty a sight as a cabbage man would wish to see. 
 It comes in as early as some strains of Fottler, and a 
 little earlier than others. A capital sort to succeed 
 the All-Seasons. The heads being very thick through, 
 and nearly round, make it an excellent sort to carry 
 through the winter, as it " peels " well, as cabbage 
 growers say. Ten inches in diameter, in size it is 
 just about right for profitable marketing. A capital 
 sort, exceedingly popular among marketmen in this 
 vicinity. 
 
 EARLY BLEICHFELD CABBAGE. 
 
 ] fmd the Bleiclifeld to be among the earliest of 
 the large, hard-heading Drumheads, maturing earlier 
 than the Fottler's Brunswick. The heads are large, 
 very solid, tender when cooked, and of excellent 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 55 
 
 flavor. The color is a lighter green than most varie- 
 ties, and it is as reliable for heading as any cabbage 
 I have ever grown. The above engraving I have had 
 made from a photograph of a specimen grown on 
 my grounds. 
 
 ALL-SEASONS CABBAGE. 
 
 This cabbage is the result of a cross made by a 
 Long Island gardener between the Flat Dutch and 
 a variety of Drumhead. The result is a remarkably 
 large, early Drumhead, that matures close in time 
 with the Early Summer, while it is from one third to 
 one half larger. It is an excellent variety either as 
 an early or late sort; the roundness of the head, 
 leaving a thick, solid cabbage, should it become neces- 
 sary, as is often the case with those marketed in the 
 spring, to peal off the outer layer of leaves. Heads 
 large in size, solid and tender, and rich flavored when 
 
56 
 
 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 cooked. It has verified the prophecy I made when 
 sendmg it out and become a standard variety in many 
 localities. Its popularity is increasing from year to 
 year. 
 
 GREGORY'S HARD-HEADING CABBAGE. 
 
 Heads grow to a good market size, are more globu- 
 lar than Flat Dutch, and, as might be presumed, of 
 great weight in proportion to their size. The color 
 is a peculiar'green, rather more of an olive than most 
 kinds of cabbage ; about a fortnight later than Flat 
 Dutch. For late fall, winter and spring sales plant 
 3 by 3 the first of June. 
 
 EARLY DEEP-HEAD CABBAGE. 
 
 This is a valuable improvement on the Fottler, 
 made by years of careful selection and high cultiva- 
 tion by Mr. Alley, of Marblehead, a famous cabbage- 
 grower, who, as the name indicates, has produced a 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEliS. 
 
 57 
 
 Eably Deep-Head Cabbage. 
 
 deeper, rounder heading variety than the original 
 Fottler, thus making what that was not, an excellent 
 sort for winter and spring marketing. It has all the 
 excellent traits of its parent in reliability for making 
 large, handsome heads. 
 
 Bergen Drumhead. Heads round, rathe^i' flat on 
 the top, solid ; leaves stout, thick and rather numer- 
 ous ; stump short. With me, under same cultivation, 
 it is later than Stone-Mason. It is tender and of 
 good flavor. A popular sort in many sections, par- 
 ticularly in the markets of New York City. Have 
 the plants three feet apart each way. 
 
 The Avery Cabbage is a variety made by selection 
 from the Fottler by the farmers of Essex County, 
 Mass., a county famous for the many choice varieties 
 that have originated there- It closely resembles the 
 Stone-Mason in the shape and size of its head and m 
 
58 CABBAGES AKD CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 reliability for heading. I have seen a field of about 
 two acres of this variety when every plant bore a 
 good marketable head. It matures about with the 
 Stone-Mason, and, being so inclined to rot at the 
 stump, has largely replaced it in the region where it 
 originated. 
 
 Twiss Cabbage. This is a variety of the Warren, 
 originated in the vicinity of Lowell, Mass., by the 
 farmer whose name it bears. It differs from the 
 Warren in being a little earlier, while the head is 
 rather m.ore spherical. Its habit of growth is some- 
 what peculiar, rising above the head so that until 
 mature the appearance suggests a failure in heading ; 
 but when these projecting leaves are removed a 
 round, symmetrical head is seen. 
 
 '' Glory of Enkhuisen." This is a cabbage which 
 has come to us from across the water. It is a re- 
 markably early sort for a Drumhead, being but a few 
 days later than the Jersey Wakefield. The heads 
 
 are round as a ball, very solid, growing on a very 
 short stump. Some of our customers have been 
 fairly captivated by its merits, having adopted it as 
 their earliest Drumhead. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 59 
 
 *< Volga." This, as the name would imply, is a 
 Russian cabbage, and has one peculiarity that it 
 brings to us from a colder latitude than ours, viz:^ it 
 cannot always be relied upon to give satisfaction 
 if planted earlier than the latter part of June, as it 
 will not always give satisfaction when maturing in 
 the heat of summer. Were it not for this character- 
 istic, the Volga would be decidedly the largest of all 
 the varieties of early Drumheads. When planted the 
 
 latter part of June in the latitude of Massachusetts, 
 it gives us the largest of all Drumheads planted on 
 the same date. Some have made the objection that 
 it does not cut as neatly from the stump as other 
 Drumheads, but all agree on its remarkable earliness 
 (being but a few days later than Jersey Wakefield) 
 and the great size and solidity of the heads. 
 
 The "Houser" Cabbage. This variety, which 
 bears the name of its originator, comes to us from 
 the West. It is of the Flat Dutch strain, but is a 
 
60 
 
 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 Thb "Housek" Cabbage. 
 
 fortnight later than any of its type. As will be seen, 
 the heads are as tound as a ball, and about as hard. 
 The heads are not as liable to split as other varieties. 
 The stump extends but about 2^ inches into the 
 head. The leaves are as free from mid-ribs and 
 creases as are to be found in most varieties, which 
 contributes towards its tenderness when cooked. The 
 heads are not quite as shiny when growing as are 
 some other Drumheads, but when "peeled" are all 
 right. A test made by the professor in charge at the 
 Canadian Experimental Station of the Houser with 
 many other varieties — a test carried through two 
 seasons — demonstrated the very valuable fact that 
 the Houser was freer from bhght than any of the 
 other varieties. 
 
 Danish Winter Ball Head. The Danish and Hol- 
 lander cabbages, under various names, have become 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 61 
 
 exceedingly popular in our late winter and spring 
 markets, for the good reason that the imported varie- 
 ties have been bringing from fifty cents to a dollar 
 more per barrel than the best of our native sorts. 
 This is because of the remarkable hardness of the 
 heads. All are very reliable for heading if planted 
 early on strong, well-manured land. In tlie latitude 
 of Central Massachusetts they should be planted the 
 first week in June. 
 
 The Solid Emperor. All the various strains of 
 these foreign late cabbages are characterized by 
 stumps longer than those of our native sorts. All 
 are very reliable for heading if planted on strong, 
 
 well-manured land. In the latitude of Central Massa- 
 chusetts they should be planted the first week in 
 June. We find no one variety equal to the Solid 
 Emperor. 
 
 The Hollander. The Hollander is one of the best 
 of those hard-heading foreign varieties which have 
 been imported into our markets after spring is well 
 advanced. We find that in this country as fine heads 
 
62 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 can be raised as are imported. Tlie heads are thick, 
 round, of medium size, and about as hard as a rock. 
 Phmt at least a fortnight earlier than the common 
 Drumhead, and manure very liberally. 
 
 Early Deep Head. This cabbage, which is a selec- 
 tion from the Fottler, differs from its ancestor in 
 forming a much thicker and harder head. It grows 
 to a first-class market size. Very popular among the 
 marl^et gardeners of Marblehead, who have the repu- 
 tation of carrying in the best cabbages sold in the 
 Boston market. Earlier than Stone-Mason. Planted 
 in the latitude of Boston from June 10 to 20, it 
 matures in season for the late fall market, and is an 
 excellent variety to keep through for marketing in 
 spring, as it " peels " well. 
 
 SAVOY CABBAGES. 
 
 The Savoys are the tenderest and richest-flavored 
 of cabbages, though not always as sweet as a well- 
 grown Stone Mason ; nor is a Savoy grown on poor 
 soil, or one that has been pinched by drough, as ten- 
 der as a Stone Mason that has been grown under 
 favoring circumstances ; yet it remains, as a rule, that 
 the Savoy surpasses all other cabbages in tenderness, 
 and in a rich, marrow-like flavor. The Savoys are 
 also the hardiest of the cabbage tribe, enduring in the 
 open field a temperature within sixteen degrees of 
 zero without serious injury ; and if the heads are not 
 very hard they will continue to withstand repeated 
 changes from freezing to thawing for a couple of 
 months, as far north as the latitude of Boston. A 
 degree of freezing improves them, and it is common 
 in that latitude to let such as are intended for early 
 winter use, in, the family, remain standing in the 
 open ground where they grew, cutting the heads as 
 they are wanted. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOAYEES. ioS 
 
 As a rule Savoys neither head as readily (the " Im- 
 proved American Savoy " being an exception) nor do 
 the heads ptow as laro^e as the Drumhead varieties : 
 indeed, most of the kinds in cultivation are "so unreli- 
 able in these respects as to be utterly worthless for 
 market purposes, and nearly so for the kitchen garden. 
 
 The Drumhead Savoy. This, as the name im- 
 plies, is the result of a cross between a Savoy and a 
 Drumhead cabbage, partaking of the characteristics 
 of each. Many of the cabbages sold in the market 
 as Savoy are really this variety. One variety in my 
 experimental garden, which I received as Tour's 
 Savoy (evidently a Drumhead variety of the Savoy), 
 proved to be much like Early Schweinfurt in earli- 
 ness and style of heading ; the heads were very large, 
 but quite loose in structure ; I should think it would 
 prove valuable for family use. 
 
 It is a fact that does not appear to be generally 
 known that we have among the Savoys some remark- 
 ably early sorts which rank with the earliest varieties 
 of cabbage grown. Pancalier and Early Ulm Savoy 
 are earlier than that old standard of earliness, Early 
 York ; Pancalier being somewhat earlier than Ulm. 
 
 Pancalier is characterized by very coarsely blistered 
 leaves of the darkest-green color ; the heads usually 
 gather together, being the only exception I know of 
 to the rule that cabbage heads are made up of over- 
 lapping leaves, wrapped closely together. It has a 
 short stump, and with high cultivation is reliable for 
 heading. The leaves nearest the head, though not 
 forming a part of it, are c|uite tender, and may be 
 cooked with the head. Plant fifteen by thirty inches. 
 
 Early Ulm Savoy is a few days later than Panca- 
 lier, and makes a larger head ; the leaves are of a 
 
04 
 
 CABBAGES AND OAULIFLOWEKS. 
 
 lighter green and not 
 so coarsely blistered ; 
 stump short ; head 
 round ; very reliable 
 for heading. It has a 
 capital characteristic 
 in not being so liable 
 as most varieties to 
 burst the head and 
 push the seed shoot 
 immediately after the 
 head is matured. For first early, I know no cabbages 
 so desirable as these for the kitchen garden. 
 
 The Early Dwarf Savoy is a desirable variety of 
 second early. The heads are rather flat in shape, and 
 grow to a fair size. Stumps short ; reliable for heading. 
 Improved American Savoy. Everything con- 
 sidered, this is the Savoy, "par excellence," for the 
 
 market garden. It 
 is a true Savoy, the 
 heads grow to a 
 large size, from six 
 to ten inches in di- 
 ameter, varying, of 
 course, with soil, 
 manure, and culti- 
 ■ vation. In shape 
 the heads are most- 
 ly globular, occasionally oblong, having but few waste 
 leaves, and grow very solid. Stump short. In re_ 
 liability for heading it is unsurpassed by any other 
 other cabbage. 
 
 Golden Savoy differs from other varieties in the 
 color of the head, which rises from the body of light 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 65 
 
 green leaves, of a singular pale yellow color, as though 
 blanched. The stumps are long, and the head rather 
 small, a portion of these growing pointed. It is very 
 late, not worth cultivating, except as a curiosity. 
 
 Norwegian Savoy. This is a singular half cab- 
 bage, half kale — at least, so it has proved under my 
 cultivation. The leaves are long, narrow, tasselated, 
 and somewhat blistered. The whole appearance is 
 very singular and rather ornamental. I have tried 
 this cabbage twice, but have never got beyond the 
 possible promise of a head. 
 
 Victoria Savoy, Russian Savoy, and Cape Savoy, 
 tested in my experimental garden, did not prove 
 desirable either for family use or for market purposes. 
 
 Feather Stemmed Savoy. This is a cross be- 
 tween the Savoy and Brussels sprouts, having the 
 habit of growth of Brussels sprouts. 
 
 OTHER VARIETIES OF CABBAGE. 
 
 I will add notes on some other varieties which have 
 been tested, from year to year, in my experimental plot. 
 The results from tests of different strains of standard 
 sorts, I have not thought it worth the while to record. 
 
 Cannon Ball. The heads are usually spherical, 
 attaining to a diameter of from five to nine inches, 
 with the surrounding leaves gathered rather closely 
 around them ; in hardness and relative weight it is 
 excelled by but few varieties. Stump short. It de- 
 lights in the highest cultivation possible. It is about 
 a week later than Early York. In those markets 
 where cabbages are sold by weight, it will pay to 
 grow for market ; it is a good cabbage for the family 
 garden. 
 
 Early Cone, of the Wakefield class, but with me 
 not as early. 
 
66 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 Garfield Pickling-, of late variety, of the conical 
 class. 
 
 Cardinal Red. A large, late variety of red ; but 
 on my grounds, it is not equal to Red Drumhead. 
 
 Vilmorin's Early Flat Dutch. Not quite as large 
 as Early Summer, though about as early and resem- 
 bles it in shape of head. 
 
 Royal German Drumhead. Reliable for heading. 
 
 Larg-e White Solid Madg'ehurg". A late Drum- 
 head ; short stumjjed ; reliable for heading. Medium 
 late. 
 
 Pak Choi. Evidently of the Kale class ; no heads. 
 
 Chou de Burg-hlez and Chou de Milan. These 
 are coarse, looee, small heading varieties, allied to 
 Kale. The latter is of the Savoy class. 
 
 Earliest Erfurt Blood-Red. Decidedly the earliest 
 of the red cabbages. Very reliable for heading. A 
 Drumhead; smaller than Red Drumhead. Very dark 
 red. 
 
 Empress. Resembles Wyman in size and shape ; 
 but the heads are more pointed, and it makes head 
 earlier. Heads well. 
 
 Schlitzer. This makes heads mostly shaped like 
 the Winnigstadt, but a third larger. Its mottling of 
 green and purple gives it a striking appearance. 
 Early and very reliable for heading. Heads are not 
 very hard ; but, when cooked, are just about as tender 
 and rich-flavored as the Savoy. Promises to be an 
 excellent sort for family use. 
 
 Rothelburg". An early sure heading variety of the 
 Drumhead class. Heads of medium size ; resembling 
 in shape Deep Head. 
 
 Sure Head. A strain of Fottler or Flat Dutch. 
 A late variety ; heads deeper tlian Fottler, but with 
 me not so reliable. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 67 
 
 Dark Red Pointed. Resembles Winnigstadt in 
 shape. About as late as Red Dutch, and not as de- 
 sirable. 
 
 Bacalan Late. In shape resembles Winnigstadt. 
 Grow a little wild. 
 
 Amack. A late variety. Heads generally nearly 
 globular and quite hard. Very reliable for heading. 
 
 Bangholm. First of all. As early as the earliest, 
 but very small, — not as large as Little Pixie. 
 
 Henderson's Early Spring. New ; early ; very 
 promisiug. 
 
 Tourleville. Heads resemble Wakefield in form, 
 but with me are not so large, and are more inchned 
 to burst. 
 
 Danish Round Winter. A late variety; bearing 
 deep, very hard heads on long stumps. 
 
 Dwarf Danish. Late ; reliable to head ; uneven 
 in time of heading , worth planting for market. 
 
 Danish Ball Drumhead. Heads not characterized 
 by globular shape, but rather flattish. Irregular in 
 length of stump. 
 
 Early Paris. Closely resembles Wakefield. 
 
 Very Early Etampes. Earlier than Wakefield. 
 Shape, partakes of both Oxheart and Wakefield. 
 
 Early Mohawk. Light green in color; a good 
 header, but not so hard heading as Fottler ; appeare 
 to have a little of the Savoy cross in it. 
 
 Louisville Drumhead. Of the Flat Dutch type; 
 nearly as early as Early Summer. 
 
 Early Advance. Of the Wakefield type. With 
 me it is full as early as Wakefield, and considerably 
 larger ; rather coarser in structure. 
 
68 CABBAGES AND CAULIPLOWEKS. 
 
 Market Garden. Of the Fottler class ; very reli- 
 able for heading. Heads of good size, but rather 
 coarser than the Deep Head. 
 
 Chase's Excelsior. A second early; much like 
 Fottler ; heads finely. 
 
 Bloomsdale Early Market. With me this is not 
 as good a variety as Wakefield. 
 
 Berkshire Beauty. There appear to be fine pos- 
 sibilities in this cabbage, which have not yet been 
 developed into uniformity. 
 
 Landredth's Extra Early. With me it does not 
 prove as early as Wakefield, and does not head as 
 well. 
 
 Bridg-eport Late Drumhead. A large Drum- 
 head ; in size, between Stone Mason and Marblehead 
 Mammoth. Reliable for heading, but does not head 
 as hard as either of these varieties. Not inclined to 
 burst. 
 
 Larg-e French Oxheart closely resembles Early 
 Oxheart, but grows to double the size, and is about 
 ten days later ; quality usually good. 
 
 Early Sugar Loaf. Heads shaped much like a 
 loaf of sugar standing on its smaller end, resembling, 
 as Burr well says, a head of Cos lettuce in its shape, 
 and in the peculiar clasping of the leaves about the 
 head. Heads rather hard, medium size ; early, and 
 tender. It is said not to stand the heat as well as 
 most sorts. 
 
 Larg-e Brunswick Short-Stemmed. (English 
 seed.) Late, long-stumped, wild, plenty of leaves, 
 almost no head; bears but a slight resemblance to 
 Fottler's Drumhead. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 69 
 
 Robinson's Champion Ox Drumhead. Stump 
 long; heads soft and not very large ; wild. 
 
 Eng-lish Winnig-stadt. Long-stumped; irregular; 
 not to be compared with French stock. 
 
 Blenheim. Early ; heads mostly conical ; of good 
 size. 
 
 Shillings Queen. Early; heads conical; stumps 
 long. 
 
 Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf. Surpasses in 
 earliness and hardness of head. Closely allied to 
 Little Pixie. 
 
 Enfield Market Improved. Most of the heads 
 were flat; rather wild; not to be compared with 
 Fottler. 
 
 Kemp's Incomparable. Long-headed; heads, 
 when mature, do not aj)pear to burst as readily as 
 with most of the conical class. 
 
 Fielderkraut. Closely resembles Winnigstadt, 
 with larger and longer heads and stump ; requires 
 more room than Winnigstadt. 
 
 Ramsay's Winter Drumhead. Closely resembles 
 St. Dennis. I think it is the same. 
 
 Pomeranian Cabbage. Heads very long; quite 
 large for a conical heading sort ; very symmetrical 
 and hard ; color, yellowish-green. It handles well, and 
 I should think would prove a good keeper. Medium 
 early. 
 
 Alsacian Drumnead. Stump long ; late ; wild. 
 
 Marbled Bourgogne. Stumps long; heads small 
 and hard ; color, a mixture of green and red. 
 
 CABBAGE GREENS. 
 
 In the vicinity of our large cities, the market gar- 
 deners sow large areas very thickly with cabbage 
 
70 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 seed, early in the spring, to raise young plants to be 
 sold as greens. The seed is sown broadcast at the 
 rate of ten pounds and upwards to the acre. Seed 
 of the Savoy cabbage is usually sown for this pur- 
 pose, which may be sometimes purchased at a dis- 
 count, owing to some defect in quality or purity, that 
 would render it worthless for planting for a crop of 
 heading cabbage. 
 
 The young plants are cut off about even with the 
 ground, when four or five inches high, washed, and 
 carried to market in barrels or bushel boxes. The 
 price varies with the state of the market, from 12 
 cents to $3 a barrel, the average price in Boston 
 market being about a dollar. With the return of 
 spring most families have some cabbage stumps re- 
 maining in the cellar ; these can be planted about 
 a foot apart in some handy spot along the edge of 
 the garden, where they will not interfere with the 
 general crop, setting them under ground from a 
 quarter to a half their length, depending on the 
 length of the stumps. They will soon be covered 
 with green shoots, which should be used as greens 
 before the blossom buds show themselves, as they 
 then become too strong to be agreeable. If the spot 
 is rich and has been well dug, the rapidity of growth 
 is surprising ; and if the shoots are frequently gath- 
 ered, many nice messes of greens can be grown from 
 a few stumps. Farmers in Northern Vermont tell 
 me, that if they break off each seed shoot as soon as it 
 shows itself, close home to the stump, nice little heads 
 will push out on almost every stump. In England, 
 where the winter climate is much milder than that 
 of New England, it is the practice to raise a second 
 crop of heads in this way. In my own neighborhood 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 71 
 
 I have seen an acre from which a crop of drumhead 
 cabbage had been cut off early in the season, every 
 stump on which had from three to six hard heads, 
 varying from the size of a hen's egg to that of a goose 
 egg ; but to get this second growth of heads, as much 
 of the stump and leaves should be left as possible, 
 when cutting out the original head. As in the 
 cabbage districts of the North little or no use is made 
 of thi's prolific after growth, it is worse than useless 
 to suffer the ground to be exhausted by it ; the stump 
 should be pulled by the potato hoe as soon as the 
 heads are marketed. When cabbages are planted out 
 for seed, if, for any reason, the seed shoot fails to 
 push out, and at times when it does push out fine 
 sprouts for greens will start below the head, such 
 sprouts should be broken off, not being allowed to 
 blossom, much less produce seed ; it being the gen- 
 eral belief among seedsmen that seed raised from 
 them is no better than that raised from the stumps 
 after the heads have been removed. 
 
 CABBAGE FOR STOCK. 
 No vegetable raised in the temperate zone. Man- 
 gold Wurtzel alone excepted, will produce as much 
 food to the acre, both for man and beast, as the cab- 
 bage. I have seen acres of the Marblehead Mammoth 
 drumhead which would average thirty pounds to 
 each cabbage, some specimens weighing over sixty 
 pounds. The plants were four feet apart each way 
 which would give a product of over forty tons to the 
 acre ; and I have tested a crop of Fottler's that yielded 
 thirty tons of green food to the half acre. Other 
 vegetables are at times raised for cattle feed, such as 
 potatoes, carrots, ruta bagas, mangold wurtzels ; a 
 crop of potatoes yielding four hundred bushels to the 
 
72 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 acre at sixty pounds the busliel would weigh twelve 
 tons ; a crop of carrot yielding twelve hundred 
 bushels to the acre would weigh thirty tons ; ruta 
 bagas sometimes yield thirty tons ; and mangolds 
 as high as seventy tons to the acre. I have set all 
 these crops at a high capacity for fodder purposes ; 
 the same favoring conditions of soil, manure, and 
 cultivation that would pi'oduce four hundred bushels 
 of potatoes, twelve hundred bushels of carrots, and 
 thirty-five tons of ruta baga turnips, would give a 
 crop of forty tons of the largest variety of drumhead 
 cabbage. If we now consider the comj^arative merits 
 of these crops for nutriment, we find that the cab- 
 bage excels them all in this department also. The 
 potatoes abound in starch, the mangold and carrot 
 are largely composed of water, while the cabbage 
 abounds in rich, nitrogeneous food. 
 
 Prof. Stewart states that cabbage for milch cows 
 has about the same feeding value as sweet corn ensi- 
 lage, and makes the value not over #3.40 j)er ton. 
 Now it is admitted by general consent that the value 
 of common ensilage, which is inferior to that made 
 from sweet corn, is, Avhen compared with good English 
 hay, as 3 to 1. This would make cabbages for milch 
 cows worth not far from $7.00 per ton. 
 
 When cabbage is kept for stock feed later than the 
 first severe frost, if the quantity is large there is 
 considerable waste even with the best of care. The 
 loose leaves should be fed first, and the heads kept in 
 a cool place, not more than two or three deep, at as 
 near the freezing point as possible. If it has been 
 necessary to cut the heads from the stumps, they may 
 be piled, after the weather has set in decidedly cold, 
 conveniently near the barn, and kept covered with a 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 73 
 
 foot of straw or old litter. As long as a cabbage is 
 kept frozen there is no waste to it; but if it be 
 allowed to freeze and thaw two or three times, it will 
 soon rot with an awful stench. I suspect thut it is this 
 rotten portion of the cabbage that often gives the bad 
 flavor to milk. On the other hand, if it is kept in 
 too warm and dry a place, the outer leaves will dry, 
 turning yellow, and the whole head lose in weight, 
 — if it be not very hard, shrivelling, and, if hard, 
 shrinking. If they are kept in too warm and wet a 
 place, the heads will decay fast, in^ a black, soft rot. 
 The best way to preserve cabbages for stock into the 
 winter, is to place them in trenches a few inches 
 below the surface, and there cover with from a foot 
 to two feet of coarse hay or straw, the depth depend- 
 ing on the coldness of the locality. When the ground 
 has been frozen too hard to open with a plough or 
 spade, I have kept them until spring by piling them 
 loosely, hay-stack shape, about four feet high, letting 
 the frost strike through them, and afterwards cover- 
 ing with a couple of feet of eel-grass ; straw or coarse 
 hay would doubtless do as well. 
 
 I have treated of cabbage thus far when grown speci- 
 ally for stock ; in every piece of cabbage handled for 
 market purposes, there is a large proportion of waste 
 suitable for stock feed, which includes the outside 
 leaves and such heads as have not hardened up suffi- 
 ciently for market. On walking over a piece just after 
 my cabbages for seed stock have been taken off, I 
 note that the refuse leaves that were stripped from 
 the heads before pulling are so abundant they nearly 
 cover the ground. If leaves so stripped remain 
 exposed to frost, they soon spoil ; or, if earlier in the 
 season they are exposed to the sun, they soon become 
 
74 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 yellow, dry, and of but little value. They can be 
 rapidly collected with a hay fork and carted, if there 
 be but a few, into the barn ; should there be a large 
 quantity, dump them within a convenient distance of 
 the barn or feeding ground, but not where the cattle 
 can trample them, and spread them so that they will 
 be but a few inches in depth. If piled in heaps they 
 will quickly heat ; but even then, if not too much 
 decayed, cattle will eat them with avidity. Cabbages 
 are hardy plants, and loose heads will stand a good 
 deal of freezing and thawing without serious injury. 
 They are not generally injured with the thermometer 
 16° below freezing. The waste, after the cabbages 
 suitable for seed-raising and all others that are fit for 
 marketing are removed, brings me about $10 per acre 
 on the ground for cow feed. 
 
 If cabbage is fed to cows in milk without some care, 
 it will be apt to give the milk a strong cabbage 
 flavor ; all the feed for the day should be given early 
 in the morning. Beginning with a small quantity, 
 and gradually increasing it, the dairy man will soon 
 learn his limits. The effect of a liberal feed to milk 
 stock is to largely increase the flow of milk. Avoid 
 feeding to any extent while the leaves are frozen. 
 
 An English writer says : " The cabbage comes into 
 use when other things begin to fail, and it is by far 
 the best succulent vegetable for milking cows, — 
 keeping up the yield of milk, and preserving, better 
 than any other food, some portion of the quality 
 which cheese loses when the cows quit their natural 
 23asturage. Cows fed on cabbages are always quiet 
 and satisfied, while on turnips they often scour and 
 are restless. When frosted, they are liable to produce 
 hoven, unless kept in a warm shed to thaw before 
 being used ; fifty-six pounds given, at two meals, are 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 75 
 
 as much as a large cow should have in a day. Fre- 
 quent cases of abortion are caused by an over-supply 
 of green food. Cabbages are excellent for young ani- 
 mals, keeping them in health, and preventing ' black 
 leg.' A calf of seven months may have twenty pounds 
 a day." 
 
 RAISING CABBAGE SEED. 
 
 Cabbage seed in England, particularly of the drum- 
 head sorts, is mostly raised from stumps, or from the 
 refuse that remains after all that is salable has been 
 disposed of. The agent of one of the largest English 
 seed houses, a few years since, laughed at my " waste- 
 fulness," as he termed it, in raising seed from solid 
 heads. In our own country, cabbage seed is often 
 raised from soft, half-formed heads, which are grown 
 as a late crop, few if any of them being hard enough 
 to be of any value in the market. Seedsmen practise 
 selecting a few fine, hard heads from which to raise 
 their seed stock. It has been my practice to grow 
 seed from none but extra fine heads, better than the 
 average of those carried to market. I do this on the 
 theory that no cabbage can be too good for a seed- 
 head if the design is to keep the stock first-class. 
 Perhaps such strictness may not be necessary ; but 
 I had rather err in setting out too good heads than 
 too poor ones. Cabbage raised from seed grown 
 from stumps are apt to be unreliable for heading 
 and to grow long-stumped, though, under unfavor- 
 able conditions, long-stumped and poor-headed cab- 
 bage may grow from the best of seed. To have the 
 best of seed, all shoots that start below the head 
 
76 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEKS. 
 
 should be broken off. To prevent the plants falling 
 over after the seed-stalks are grown, dig deep holes, 
 and plant the entire stump in the ground. Scare- 
 crows should be set up, or some like precaution be 
 taken, to keep away the little seed-birds, that begin 
 to crack the pods as soon as they commence to ripen. 
 A plaster cat is a very good scarecrow to frighten 
 away birds from seed and small fruits, if its location 
 is changed every few days. 
 
 I find that the pods of cabbage seed grown South 
 are tough, and not brittle, like those grown North, 
 and hence that they are injured but little, if any, by 
 seed birds. When the seed-pods have passed what 
 seedsmen call their "red" stage, they begin to 
 harden ; as soon as a third of them are brown, the 
 entire stalk may be cut and hung up in a dry, airy 
 place, for a few days, when the seed will be ready 
 for rubbing or threshing out. Different varieties 
 should be raised far apart to insure purity ; and cab- 
 bage seed had better not be raised in the vicinity of 
 turnip seed. There is some difference of opinion as 
 to the effect of growing these near each other ; where 
 the two vegetables blossom at the same time, I should 
 fear an admixture. When the care requisite to select 
 good seed stock, and the trouble, and, often, great 
 loss, in keeping it over winter, planting it in isolated 
 locations, protecting it from wind and Aveather, guard- 
 ing it from injury from birds and other enemies, gath- 
 ering it, cleaning it, are all considered, few men will 
 find that they can afford to raise their own seed, 
 provided they can buy it from reliable seedsmen. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. ^^T 
 
 ORIGINATING NEW VARIETIES OF CABBAGE. 
 
 It is singular that in this age, when science is so 
 intelligently active along so many lines of mvestiga- 
 tiou and discovery in its efforts to add to the sum o 
 human knowledge, and thus promote the welfare ot 
 the race, so little attention has been given to the pro- 
 duction of new varieties of vegetables by the scientific 
 method, the crossing through the pollen. About all 
 the kinds of vegetables now cultivated have acquired 
 their varieties by selection. I can recall but one in 
 the cabbage family and one in the squash family that 
 have been thus produced, viz: the Reynolds cabbage 
 and Butman squash; the former being made at my 
 suo-gestion by the late Mr. Franklin Reynolds, t len 
 a derk in my employ, by transferring tj^e Pollen 
 of the Cannon Ball, a very early and hard heading 
 variety, on to the pistil of the Schweinfurt Qumta , 
 a very early, large but loose heading variety of excel- 
 lent quality. The result was a cabbage which had a 
 very happy combination of both its parents I am 
 sorry to have to aver that in some way hard to 
 explain this cabbage has departed this life. Ihe 
 Butman squash was the product of a cross bet^^en 
 the Japanese squash, the Yokohama and the Hub- 
 bard by the gentleman whose name it bears, the 
 product being in quality one of the best of squashes. 
 Mr Luther Burbank, when by purchasing from him 
 a new potato to which I gave his name, thus enabling 
 him to reach California, has gained a world-wide 
 reputation by his scientific crosses of fruits and 
 flowers. Would that he would aim to improve our 
 vegetables and grains by the same methods. The 
 
78 CABBAGE? AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 late Mr. Conover, when editor of the Rural New 
 Yorker, devoted much work to the crossing of pota- 
 toes and grains, succeeding in obtaining one variety 
 of the latter which had in it great promise, but, un- 
 fortunately, by the death of the party having it espe- 
 cially in charge, all seed stock was lost. The Messrs. 
 Landredth made many crosses of the tomato. These 
 I fruited some years ago with very interesting results, 
 though I am not aware that any of the new varieties 
 have survived to our day. Within a couple of years 
 there has been a waking up in this matter, and I am 
 in correspondence with professors in two of our 
 agricultural colleges who are working along this line 
 with promise of a success which will be of great value 
 to the agriculture of this country. This scientific 
 crossing of varieties is a veiy simple matter, entirely 
 within the reach of any school boy of average intelli- 
 gence who has entered his teens. He will need a little 
 botanical knowledge to start with. Examine the blos- 
 som of a cabbage ; you will see that it is made up of 
 three parts : the outer leaves, a centre growth, called 
 the pistil, around which are ranged symmetrically 
 little thread-like growths called stamens. From its 
 opening examine it carefully for a morning or two, 
 and you will find that the thread-like growths have a 
 little powdery growth, called pollen, on their tips. 
 This powder, more or less of it, must drop on the tip 
 of the pistil and so fertilize it to enable it to bear 
 seed. To get a new variety of cabbage it is only 
 necessary to cut off the tips of these stamens as soon 
 as they appear (a very small scissors should be used) 
 and convey to each blossom by the help of a fine 
 camel's hair brush (or simply a careful shaking of 
 the flowers might do) the pollen of another variety 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 79 
 
 to the pistil of the one on which you desire to make 
 your cross. As soon as this pollen has been conveyed 
 the flowers must be protected from the intrusion of 
 insects by tying around them loosely a piece of cheese 
 cloth. The seeds that grow from flowers thus treated 
 I will combine the qualities of tlie two parents in a 
 greater or less degree. Make your selections of the 
 type you prefer and plant in some isolated location 
 for seed purposes. The varieties of cabbage w^e have 
 produced by this scientific process might well be 
 called " New Creations," for there will be none others 
 just like them on this earth. 
 
80 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 COOKING CABBAGE, SOUR-KROUT, ETC. 
 
 Cabbage when boiled with salt pork, as it is mostly 
 used, is the food for strong and healthy digestive 
 powers ; but when eaten in its raw state, served with 
 vinegar and pepper, it is considered one of the most 
 easily digested articles of diet. In the process of 
 cooking, even with the greatest care, a large portion 
 of the sweetness is lost. The length of time required 
 to cook cabbage by boiling varies with the quality? 
 those of the l^est quality requiring about twenty 
 minutes, while others require an hour. In cooking 
 put it into boiling water in which a little salt and 
 soda has been sprinkled, which will tend to preserve 
 the natural green color. It will be \\'ell to change 
 the water once. The peculiar aroma given out by 
 cabbage when cooking is thought to depend somewhat 
 on the manner in which it is grown ; those having 
 been raised with the least rank manure having the 
 least. I think this is one of the whims of the 
 community. By using some varieties of boilers all 
 steam is carried into the fire, and there is no smell 
 in the house. 
 
 To Pickle., select hard heads, quarter them, soak in 
 salt and water four or five days, then drain and treat 
 as for other pickles, with vinegar spiced to suit. 
 
 For Cijld SImv, select hard heads, halve and then 
 slice up these halves exceedingly fine. Lay these in 
 a deep dish, and pour over vinegar that haa been 
 raised to the boiling point in which has been mixed a 
 little pepper and salt. 
 
 Sour-Krout. Take large, hard-headed drumheads, 
 halve, and cut very fine ; then pack in a clean, tight 
 barrel, beginning with a sprinkling of salt, and follow- 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 81 
 
 ing with a layer of cabbage, and thus alternating until 
 the barrel is filled. Now compact the mass as much 
 as possible by pounding, after which put on a well- 
 fitting cover resting on the cabbage, and lay heavy 
 weights or a stone on this. When fermented it is 
 ready for use. To prepare for the table fry in butter 
 or fat. 
 
 The outer green leaves of cabbages are sometimes 
 used to line a brass or copper kettle in which pickles 
 are made in the belief that the vinegar extracts the 
 coloring substance (chlorophyl) in the leaves, and the 
 cucumbers absorbing this acquire a rich green color. 
 Be not deceived by this transparent cheat, O simple 
 housewife ! the coloring matter comes almost wholly 
 from the copper or brass behind those leaves^; and, 
 instead of an innocent vegetable pigment, your green 
 cucumbers are dyed with the poisonous carbonate of 
 copper. 
 
 CABBAGES UNDER GLASS. 
 
 The very early cabbages usually bringing high 
 prices, the enterprising market gardener either win- 
 ters the young plants under glass or starts them there, 
 planting the seed under its protecting shelter long be- 
 fore the cold of winter is passed. When the design is 
 to winter over fall grown plants, the seed are planted 
 •in the open ground about the middle of September, 
 and at about the last of October they are ready to go 
 into the cold frames, as such are called that depend 
 wholly on the sun for heat. Select those having 
 short stumps and transplant into the frames, about 
 an inch and a half by two inches apart, setting them 
 deep in the soil up to the lower leaves, shading them 
 with a straw mat, or the like, for a few days, after 
 
82 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 which let them remain without any glass over them 
 until the frost is severe enough to begin to freeze 
 the ground, then place over the sashes ; but bear in 
 mind that the object is not to promote growth, but, as 
 nearly as possible, to keep them in a dormant state, 
 to keep them so cold that they will not grow, and 
 just sufficiently protected to prevent injury from 
 freezing. With this object in view the sashes must 
 be raised whenever the temperature is above freezing, 
 and this process will so harden the plants that they 
 will receive no serious injury though the ground 
 under the sash should freeze two inches deep ; cab- 
 bage plants will stand a temperature of fifteen to 
 twenty degrees below the freezing point. A covering 
 of snow on the sash will do no harm, if it does not last 
 longer than a week or ten days, in which case it must 
 be removed. There is some danger to be feared from 
 ground mice, who, when everything else is locked up 
 by the frost, will instinctively take to the sash, and 
 there cause much destruction among the plants unless 
 these are occasionally examined. When March opens 
 remove the sash when the temperature will allow, 
 replacing it when the weather is unseasonably cold, 
 particularly at night. Plants started in hot-beds may 
 be brought still farther forward by transferring them 
 when two or three inches high to cold frames, hav- 
 ing first somewhat hardened them. When so trans-, 
 ferred plant them about an inch apart and shield 
 from the sun for two or three days. After this 
 they may be treated as in cold frames. The transfer 
 tends to keep them stocky, increases the fibrous 
 roots and makes the plants hardier. As the month 
 advances the sash may be left entirely off, and about 
 the first of April the plants may be set out in the 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 83 
 
 open field, pressing fine earth firmly around the 
 roots. 
 
 When cabbages are raised in hot-beds the seed, 
 in the latitude of Boston, should be planted on thet 
 first of March ; in that of New York, about a fort- 
 night earlier. When two or three inches high, which 
 will be in three or four weeks, they should be 
 thinned to about four or less to an inch in the row. 
 They should now be well hardened by partly draw- 
 ing off the sashes in the warm part of the day, and 
 covering at night; as the season advances remove 
 the sashes entirely by day, covering only at night. 
 By about the middle of April the plants will be ready 
 for the open ground. 
 
 When raised in cold frames in the spring, the seed 
 should be planted about the first of April, mats being 
 used to retain by night the solar heat accumulated 
 durino- the day. As the season advances the same^ 
 process of hardening will be necessary as with those 
 raised in hot-beds. 
 
 COLD FRAME AND HOT-BED. 
 
 To carry on hot-beds on a large scale successfully 
 is almost an art in itself, and for fuller details I 
 will refer my readers to works on gardening. Early 
 plants, in a small way, may be raised in flower pots 
 or boxes in a warm kitchen window. It is best, if 
 practicable, to have but one plant in each pot, that 
 they may grow short and stocky. If the seed are 
 not planted earlier than April, for out-of-door culti- 
 vation, a cold frame will answer. 
 
 For a cold frame select the locality in the fall, 
 choosing a warm location on a southern slope, pro- 
 tected by a fence or building on the north and north- 
 
84 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 west. Set posts in the ground, nail two boards to 
 these parallel to each other, one about a foot in 
 height, and the other towards the soutli about four 
 inches narrower ; tliis will give the sashes resting on 
 them the right slope to shed the rain and receive as 
 much heat as possible from the sun. Have these 
 boards at a distance apart equal to the length of the 
 sash, which may be any common window sash for a 
 small bed, while three and a half feet is the leno-th 
 of a common gardener's sash. If common window 
 sash is used cut channels in the cross-bars to let the 
 water run off. Dig the ground thoroughly (it is 
 best to cover it in the fall with litter, to keep the frost 
 out) and rake out all stones or clods ; then slide in 
 the sash and let it remain closed for three or four 
 days, that the soil may be warmed hy the sun's ra^^s. 
 The two end boards and the bottom board should rise 
 as high as the sash, to prevent the heat escaping, and 
 the bottom board of a small frame should have a 
 strip nailed inside to rest the sash on. Next rake 
 in, thoroughly, some good fertilizer, or fi.nely pul- 
 verized hen manure, and plant in rows four to six 
 inches apart. As the season advances raise the 
 sashes an inch or two, in the middle of the day, and 
 water freely, at evening, with water that is nearly of 
 the temperature of the earth in the frame. As the 
 heat of the season increases whitewash the glass, and 
 keep them more and more open until just before the 
 plants are set in open ground, then allow the glass 
 to remain entirely off, both day and night, unless 
 tliere should be a cold rain. This will harden them 
 so that they will not be apt to be injured by the 
 cabbage beetle, as well as chilled and put back by 
 the change. Should the plants be getting too large 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. ^5 
 
 before the season for transplanting, tliey should be 
 checked by root prunmg, — drawing a sharp knife 
 within a couple of inches of the stalk. If it is de- 
 sirable still further to check their growth, or harden 
 them, transplant into another cold frame, allowing 
 each plant double the distance it before occupied. 
 
 The structure and management of a hot-bed is 
 much the same as that of a cold frame, with the 
 exception that the sashes are usually longer and 
 the back and front somewhat higher ; being started 
 earlier the requisite temperature has to be kept 
 up by artificial means, fermenting manure being 
 relied upon for the purpose, and the loss of this 
 heat has to be checked more carefully by straw 
 matting, and, in the far North, by shutters also. In 
 constructing it, horse-manure, with plenty of litter, 
 and about a quarter its bulk in leaves, if attainable, 
 all having been well mixed together, is thrown into 
 a pile, and left for a few days until steam escapes, 
 when the mass is again thrown over and left for 
 two or three days more, after which it is thrown into 
 the pit (or it may be placed directly on the surface) 
 which is lined with boards, from eighteen inches to 
 two feet in depth, when it is beaten down with a fork 
 and trodden well together. The sashes are now put 
 on and kept there until heat is developed. The 
 first intense heat must be allowed to pass off, which 
 will be in about three days after the high temper- 
 ature is reached. Now throw on six or eight inches 
 of fine soil, in which mix well rotted manure, free 
 from all straw, or rake in thoroughly some good 
 fertilizer, at the rate of two thousand pounds to the 
 acre, and plant the seed as in cold frame. Harden 
 the plants as directed in preceding paragraph. 
 
86 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 CAULIFLOWER, BROCCOLI, BRUSSELS- 
 SPROUTS, KALE, AND SEA-KALE. 
 
 My treatise on the cabbage would hardly be com- 
 plete without some allusion to such prominent mem- 
 bers of the Brassica family as the cauliflower, broccoli, 
 brussels-sprouts, and kale. 
 
 Cauliflower. Wrote the great Dr. Johnson : " Of 
 all the flowers of the garden, give me the cauli- 
 flower." Whether from this we are to infer the 
 surpassing excellence of this member of the Bras- 
 sica family, or that the distinguished lexicographer 
 meant emphatically to state his preference of utility 
 to beauty (perhaps our own Ben. Franklin took a 
 leaf from him), each reader must be his own judge ; 
 but be that as it may, it remains true, beyond all con- 
 troversy, that the cauliflower, in toothsome excel- 
 lence, stands at the head of the great family of which 
 it is a member. To be successful, and raise choice 
 cauliflowers, is the height of the ambition of the 
 market gardener ; and, with all his experience, and 
 with every facility at hand, he does not expect full 
 success oftener than three years in four. The cauli- 
 flower, like the strawberry, is exceedingly sensitive 
 to the presence or absence of sufficient water, and 
 success or failure with the crop may turn on its hav- 
 ing a full supply from the time they are half grown. 
 The finest specimens raised in Europe are grown in 
 beds, which are kept well watered from the supply 
 which runs between them ; and the most successful 
 growers in the country irrigate their crops during 
 periods of drouth. Cauliflowers do best on deep, rich, 
 rather moist soils. In the way of food, they want the 
 very best, and plenty of it at that. The successful 
 
CABBAGES AND CATJLIFLOWBES. 87 
 
 competitor, who won the first prize at the great Bay 
 State Fair, to the disgusted surprise of a grower 
 justly famous for his almost uniform success in win- 
 ning the laurels, whispered in my ear his secret: 
 " R. manures very heavily in the spring for his crop. 
 I manure very heavily both fall and spring." In 
 manuring, therefore, do as well by them as by your 
 heaviest crop of large drumhead cabbage, using rich 
 and well-rotted manure, broadcast, with dissolved 
 bone or ashes, or both, in the drill. Plough deep, 
 and work the land v6ry thoroughly, two ploughings, 
 with a harrowing between, are better than one. Give 
 plenty of room ; three by three for the smaller sorts, 
 and three by three and a half for the later and larger. 
 They need the same cultivation, and, being subject 
 to the same diseases and injury from insect enemies, 
 need the same protection as their cousins of the cab- 
 bage tribe. In raising for the summer market, start 
 in the cold frame, or plant as early as the ground 
 can be worked, that the plants may get well started 
 before the dry season, or the crop will be likely to 
 make such small heads," buttons," as to be practically 
 a failure. For late crop, plant seed in the hills where 
 they are to grow, from the 20th of May to the mid- 
 dle of June. The crop ripens somewhat irregularly. 
 When there is danger from frost, the later heads 
 should be pulled and stored, with both roots and 
 leaves, being crowded, standing as they grew, into 
 a cold cellar or cold pit, when they will continue 
 growing. As soon as the heads begin to form, they 
 should be protected from sunlight by either half 
 breaking off the outer leaves and bending them over 
 them, or by gathering these leaves loosely together 
 and confining them loosely by rough pegs, or by tying 
 them together with a wisp of rye-straw. 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 Varieties. These are almost as numerous as in 
 the cabbage family. I find notes on some thirty-five 
 varieties, tested from year to year, in my experimen- 
 tal grounds. Most of them prove themselves to be 
 but a lottery, in this country of dry seasons, though 
 in the moister climate of the European localities, 
 where they are at home, they are a success. 
 
 The Half-Early Paris, or Demi-Dur, was for years 
 the standard variety 
 raised in this coun- 
 try, and from this, by 
 selection, favorite/ 
 local varieties were 
 obtained ; but, of late 
 years, this has been, 
 to a large degree, su- 
 perseded by several 
 excellent sorts, of 
 which the Extra- 
 Early Dwarf Erfurt was, doubtless the parent. Prin- 
 
 cipal among these varieties is the Snowball, the 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 89 
 
 After testing it side by side with other varieties, I find 
 that the best strain of the Snowball is not excelled. 
 Of the somewhat later ripening sorts, a variety which 
 originated in this country, called the "Long Island 
 Beauty," gives great satisfaction, in its reliability 
 
 for heading, and in the large size of its heads ; this, 
 with the Algerian, as a larger late sort, will give us 
 a first-class series. 
 
 Cauliflower seed is not raised, as yet, to any large 
 extent in this country, though some successful efforts 
 have recently been made in this direction. I have 
 found that there is a remarkable difference between 
 varieties in the quantity of seed they will yield. 
 From one variety I have raised as high as sixty 
 pounds of seed from five hundred plants, while from 
 two others, equally early, having the same number 
 of plants in each instance, and raised in the same 
 location (an island in the ocean), with precisely the 
 
90 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 
 
 same treatment in every way, I got, in each case, 
 less than a tablespoonful of seed, though the heads 
 of some of them grew to the enormous size of sixteen 
 inches in diameter. 
 
 A fine cauliflower is the pet achievement of the 
 market gardener. The great aim is not to produce 
 size only, " but the fine, white, creamy color, compact- 
 ness, and what is technically called curdy appearance, 
 from its resemblance to the curd of milk in its prep- 
 aration for cheese. When the flower begins to open, 
 or when it is of a warty or frost-like appearance, 
 it is less esteemed. It should not be cut in summer 
 above a day before it is used." The cauliflower is 
 served with milk and butter, or it may become a com- 
 ponent of soups, or be used as a pickle. 
 
 The Broccoli are closely allied to the cauliflower, 
 the white varieties bearing so close a resemblance 
 that one of them, the Walcheren, is by some classed 
 indiscriminately with each. The chief distinction 
 between the two is in hardiness, the broccoli being 
 much the hardier. 
 
 Of Broccoli over forty varieties are named in 
 foreign catalogues, of which Walcheren is one of 
 the very best. Knight's Protecting is an ex- 
 ceedingly hardy dwarf sort. As a rule, the white 
 varieties are preferred to the purple kinds. Plant 
 and treat as cauliflower. 
 
 Of Brussels-Sprouts (or bud-bearing cabbage) 
 there are but two varieties, the dwarf and the tall ; 
 the tall kind produces more buds, while the dwarf is 
 the hardier. The " sprouts " form on the stalks, and 
 are miniature heads of cabbage from the size of a pea 
 to that of a pigeon's egg. They are raised to but a 
 limited extent in this country, but in Europe they 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS. 91 
 
 are grown on a large scale. The sprouts may be 
 cooked and served like cabbage, though oftentimes 
 they are treated more as a delicacy and served with 
 butter or some rich sauce. The Feather Stem 
 Savoy and Dalmeny Sprouts are considered as 
 hybrids, the one between the brussels-sprouts and 
 Savoy, the other between it and Drumhead Savoy. 
 The soil for brussels-sprouts should not be so rich as 
 for cabbage, as the object is to grow them small and 
 solid. Give the same distance apart as for early cab- 
 bage, and the same manner of cultivation. Break 
 off the leaves at the sides a few at a time when the 
 sprouts begin to form and when they are ready to 
 use cut them off with a sharp knife. 
 
 Kale. Sea-kale, or sea-cabbage, is a native of the 
 sea coast of England, growing in the sand and pebbles 
 of the sea-shore. It is a perennial, perfectly hardy, 
 withstanding the coldest winters of New England. 
 The blossoms, though bearing a general resemblance 
 to those of other members of the cabbage family, are 
 yet quite unique in appearance, and I think worthy 
 of a place in the flower garden. It is propagated 
 both by seed and by cuttings of the roots, having the 
 rows three feet apart, and the plants three feet apart 
 in the rows. It is difficult to get the seeds to vege- 
 tate. Plant seed in April and May. The ground 
 should be richly manured, and deeply and thoroughly 
 worked. It is blanched before using. In cooking it 
 it requires to be very thoroughly boiled, after which 
 it is served up in melted butter and toasted bread. 
 The sea-kale is highly prized in England ; but thus 
 far its cultivation in this country has been very 
 limited. 
 
 The Borecole, or common kale, is of the cabbage 
 
92 CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWEES. 
 
 family, but is characterized by not heading like the 
 cabbage or producing eatable flowers like the cauli- 
 flower and broccoli. The varieties are very numer- 
 ous, some of them growing very large and coarse, 
 suitable only as food for stock ; others are exceedingly 
 finely curled, and excellent for table use ; while others 
 in their color and structure are highly ornamental. 
 They are annual, biennial, and perennial. They do 
 not require so strong a soil or such high manuring as 
 other varieties of the cabbage family. 
 
 The varieties are almost endless ; some of the best 
 in cultivation for table use are the Dwakf Scotch, 
 DwAEF Green Curled or German Greens, Tall 
 Green Curled, Purple Borecole, and the varie- 
 gated kales. The crown of tlie plant is used as greens, 
 or as an ingredient in soups. The kales are very 
 hardy, and the dwarf varieties, with but little protec- 
 tion, can be kept in the North well into the winter 
 in the open ground. Plant and cultivate like Savoy 
 cabbage. 
 
 The variegated sorts, with their fine curled leaves 
 of a rich purple, green, red, white, or yellow color, are 
 very pleasing in their effects, and form a striking 
 and attractive feature when planted in clumps in the 
 flower garden, particularly is this so because their ex- 
 treme hardiness leaves them in full vigor after the 
 cold has destroyed all other plants — some of the rich- 
 est colors are developed along the veins of the upper- 
 most leaves after the plant has nearly finished its 
 growth for the season. The Jersey Cow Kale 
 grows to from three to six feet in height and yields a 
 great body of green food for stock ; have the rows 
 about three feet apart, and the plants two to three 
 feet distant in the rows. In several instances my 
 
CABBAGES AND CAULIE^LOWERS. 
 
 93 
 
 customers have written me that this kale raised for 
 stock feed has given them great satisfaction. Tlie 
 stalks of this variety of kale are manufactured into 
 canes. 
 
 The Thousand-Headed Kale is a tall variety 
 sending out numerous side shoots, whence the name. 
 
 KOHL-RABI. 
 
 The KoHL-RABi, or cabbage-turnip, as it is often 
 called (its peculiar structure suggesting a combina- 
 tion of these two vegetables), is extensively culti- 
 vated in parts of Europe for stock feeding. To raise, 
 prepare the ground as for a good 
 crop of cabbage ; have the soil 
 made as fine as for an onion crop, 
 and plant in rows about 18 inches 
 apart, and thin plants to three 
 incites in the rows. For early use 
 they can be started in the hotbed 
 and transplanted like cabbage. 
 They do better in the cooler months 
 of the early or late season. They 
 may be stored for winter use, like 
 turnips. For a fall crop they can 
 be planted as late as tu^-nips. 
 There are two varieties catalogued, the white and the 
 purple Vienna, the difference being mere matter of 
 color. In recent years the kohl-rabi has, to some 
 extent, become a favorite for table use. When fully 
 grown it is tough, fibrous and worthless for this pur- 
 pose, but in its early stage of growth, when it has 
 attained a diameter of two inches or a little more, 
 connoisseurs rank it in quality as superior even to the 
 cauliflower. For table use boil till tender and mash, 
 to be eaten with a white sauce ; or slice, when well 
 cooked, and fry in butter. 
 
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 How to Grow Them and How to Feed 
 Them 
 
 THIS TREATISE PRESENTS, IN MINUTEST DETAIL, EVERY 
 
 STEP OP PROGRESS, FROM PLANTING THE 
 
 SEED TO THE MATURED CROP 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES J. H. GREGORY 
 
 MARBLEHEAD, MASS. 
 PRICE, BY MAIL, 30 CENTS