i8o 



Bulletin 67. 



The Pe-Tsai (or " white cabbage " ) of the Chinese, is properly 

 an annual plant, which has much the habit of a Giant Cos lettuce. 

 The illustration on page 179 shows an excellent specimen, when 



ready for cutting. A Jap- 

 anese drawing of the 

 plant is shown upon 

 this page. The name 

 of this particular Japan- 

 ese variety, as written in 

 the characters at the 

 right, is Santo-Tsai, a 

 variety which we have 

 grown three or four years. 

 The characters at the 

 bottom explain that it 

 was raised in the Mita 

 gardens at Tokio. 



The Pe-Tsai needs a 

 moist and cool soil for 

 its best development. If 

 the plants are left too 

 long in a seed-bed they 

 tend to run to seed, and 

 they do the same if set 

 upon a hot and dry soil. 

 The plant is nearly as hardy as the ordinary cabbage, and takes 

 advantage of the cool weather of September to mak-e its best leaf 

 growth. We have usually sowed the seeds in June in a seed-bed, 

 transplanting the plants before they begin to crowd, and procuring 

 the heads in September and October ; but if a cool and uniformly 

 moist, generous soil can be provided, the plants may be started 

 late in July or in August with good results. 



The head of the Pe-Tsai is never solid like that of the cabbage, 

 but is rather a long and loose roll of soft leaves, the inner ones 

 becoming blanched and very crisp. In order to keep the head 

 compact and tender, its top should be tied together, when nearly 

 mature. An average core, or compact portion of the head, will 

 measure ten or twelve inches in length, by a third or half as great 



Sanlo-Tsai, /ra/n a Japanese drazuing. 



