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Harvesting and Marketing. 



Cabbages are usually harvested as soon as they have 

 attained good marketable jsize, earliness being an im- 

 l^ortant factor in prices. The stem is cut close up to 

 the head, and the coarse outer leaves removed. Heads 

 that are not sound and firm should never be shipped. 

 The average yield of cabbage in home garden in Ala- 

 bama is about three tons per acre, but much liigher 

 yields than this are frequently madje. The yield in the 

 Gulf Coast section of the state is generally from 150 

 to 200 100-pound crates. Prices vary from fifty cents 

 to $2.00 per crate; there is little or no profit if the 

 price is less than $1.00 per crate. 



The package most commonly used is the square- 

 ended , rectangular crate, 17x17x30 inches in size, 

 which holds about a barrel or 100 pounds. In packing, 

 care should always be taken to place the stem-end of 

 the cabbage outward, as the stem-end is better able to 

 resist bruising against the sides of the crate. The 

 heads should be packed tightly into the crate, for there 

 will always be considerable shrinkage. It is customary 

 and advisable to mark on the outside of the crate the 

 number of heads contained. 



In inany cases cabbages are shipped by express, 

 but this is necessarily an expensive method. Growers 

 in a community should co-operate and ship in car-lots, 

 and thus save on the important item of trans])ortation. 

 When shipping in car-lots, close attention must l)e paid 

 to ventilation, or there may be great loss from heating 

 and decay in transit. 



Cabbage is a good cropper. Prices are subject to 

 considerable fluctuation, but quite often nice sums are 

 realized from the crop. The size of the cabbage crop 

 held over in storage in the North should be carefully 

 considered by the southern trucker in planning his 

 acreage of early cabbage, since a large crop stored in 

 the Nortli usually means low ])rices for the southern 

 crop. 



Insects and Diseases. 



In llie prcxUiclion of many crops, clean culture is of 

 great importance in controlling injurious insects and 

 diseases. This includes, in addition to the regular cul- 

 tivation of any particular crop, the destruction of all 

 nearby weeds and rubbish which may serve either as 

 food or as hiding places. Destroy all crop remnants 

 when tin; cabbage is harvested. This may be done by 



