178 



HARDWICKE'S SCI E N C E -G O S SIP. 



HISTORY OP OUR CULTIVATED 

 VEGETABLES. 



No. IV.— The Cabbage {Brassica). 



rriHE Cabbage tribe is, of all classes of cultivated 

 -'- culinary vegetables, the most ancient as well 

 as the most extensive. It belongs to the numerous 

 family Cruciferce, which comprehends Turnips, 

 Radishes, Mustard, Cress, and other esculents. Not 

 only does this class afford a great amount of whole- 

 some food to mankind, but the seeds of many 

 species are valued on account of the oil they yield, 

 and the showy garden flowers, such as the Wallflower, 

 Stocks, &c., they produce. No person unacquainted 

 with the history of the Cabbage, walking along the 

 chalky heights of Dover, or other sea-cliffs of the 

 South- West of England, during the summer months, 

 would suppose that a plant seen growing there, 

 with large, wavy, and variously-formed glaucous 

 leaves, the stem bearing a spike of pale yellow 

 flowers, and scarcely distinguished from the wild 

 mustard, or charlock, should be the uncultivated 

 state of our garden Cabbage {B. oleracea), and the 

 parent of the Cauliflower, Brocoli, Kale or Cole- 

 wort, and their endless sub-varieties. This has 

 been proved by the fact that the Red Cabbage of 

 neglected gardens at the seaside passes back again 

 in a few generations to the condition of the Wild 

 Cabbage. lu localities where it grows pretty freely, 

 the poor inhabitants collect the leaves, and after 

 boiling them in two waters to remove the saltness, 

 eat them at their meals. 



All the varieties may be reduced to three classes 

 — Cabbage, Kale or Colewort, and Cauliflowers. 

 The first class comprises those kinds in which the 

 leaves gather into what is called a head, and are 

 blanched by their own compression. The second. 

 Kale or Colewort ; the leaves are expanded and 

 coloured, with the exception of a small portion of 

 the centre, which incloses the rudiments of the 

 flowering-stem, and is commonly cultivated under 

 the name of green or Scotch Kale, and purple or 

 brown Borecole. The third division consists of 

 Cauliflowers and Brocoli, which have the flowering, 

 stem short and succulent ; the flower-buds, before 

 developing, form a close, firm, curd-like head, not 

 higher than the leaves. Some varieties of this vege- 

 table have been cultivated from the earliest times of 

 which we have any record ; but, after a lapse of so 

 many ages, it is impossible to determine what kind 

 of Cabbage the Greeks and Romans allude to in 

 their works, as no genus of plants are more liable to 

 sport or run into varieties and monstrosities. The 

 most ancieut Greek authors mention three kinds of 

 Cole: the crisp or ruffed, which they called Selinas 

 or Selinoides, from its resemblance to parsley ; the 

 second was called Lea, and the third Corambe. 



Two of their physicians, Chrysippus and Dren- 



ches, who lived in the third and fourth century 

 before the Christian era, as well as Pythagoras, are 

 said to have written books on the properties of this 

 plant. It was observed by Pliny that coleworts 

 may be cut at all times of the year for our use, so 

 they may be sown and set all the year through ; but 

 the most appropriate season is after the autumnal 

 equinox. He adds : "After the first cutting they 

 yield abundance of delicate tops, so there is no herb 

 in that regard so productive, until in the end its 

 own fertility produces its death." It was the 

 custom with the Romans, when they transplanted 

 their Coleworts, to put seaweed, or a small portion 

 of powdered nitre, under their roots, imagining that 

 they would the sooner come to maturity: others 

 threw trefoil and nitre upon the leaves for the same 

 purpose: it was also thought to make them boil 

 green. "If you would have very fine Coleworts, both 

 sweet in taste and great for cabbage," observes Pliny, 

 " first let the seed be sown in ground thoroughly 

 digged more than once or twice, and well manured ; 

 secondly, you must cut off the tender spring and 

 young stalks that seem to put out far from the 

 ground, and such as run too high ; thirdly, you 

 must raise mould or manure up to them, so that 

 they may not be more above ground than the very 

 top." These kinds of Cole, he says, are justly called 

 Tritiana, for the threefold care about them. 



There are various kinds of Coles mentioned by 

 this author, distinguished by the names of the places 

 where they grew: among these, the Coles of Brazzi 

 or Calabria were hardy, having large leaves, small 

 stalks, and an acrid flavour. 



The Sabellian Coles, with curled and ruffed leaves, 

 are mentioned as having a small stem, supporting 

 heads of an extraordinary size ; these were reputed 

 the sweetest. The same author mentions a kind of 

 Cabbage-Cole from the vale of Arieia, with an ex- 

 ceedingly great head and an infinite number of 

 leaves, which gather round and close together; 

 probably this was the first type of our hearting 

 Cabbage. The Romans planted the sprouts as well 

 as the young plants. Columella, one of their writers 

 on agricultui-e, tells us that they should be removed 

 from the old plants when they have attained six 

 leaves. This method was described in one of our 

 horticultural works, a few years since, as a grand 

 discovery; so we may truly say, there is nothing new 

 under the sun ! 



Columella informs us that this vegetable was so 

 common in Rome as not only to be an article of 

 food for the freemen, but also for the slaves. The 

 ancients often used to steep their greens in oil and 

 salt before they cooked them, and observed that if 

 any brass pot or kettle was ever so much furred, and 

 however hard to get off, if a cabbage was boiled in 

 it, the fur would peel from the sides. 



Ancient authors have mentioned various medicinal 

 uses to which this plant was applied; and it is 



