Cabbages for Stock-Feeding. 71 



them from the field. If it is convenient for feeding to continue into early 

 winter they are pulled and piled closely, then fed directly from the field. 

 When fed to sheep they are generally not cut. The sheep can nibble 

 them very well. When fed to cattle they should be cut either by a cut- 

 ting machine, or they may be chopped fairly well with a square-pointed 

 shovel. They should be fed as soon after being cut as possible. Some- 

 times the grain or chopped feed is mixed with them. 



It is claimed by many feeders that cabbages are likely to lend a dis- 

 agreeable odor or taste to the milk when fed to dairy cattle. This may 

 be avoided, however, by feeding just before or just after milking, care 

 being taken to remove the milk from the presence of the cabbage as soon 

 as possible. 



Marketing. 



There is one difficulty which may be encountered in trying to sell a 

 crop of cabbages which has been grown for stock-feeding. Such heads 

 are usually large, averaging 10 pounds and running to 20. The public 

 want to buy a cabbage for five cents. This, in years of good price, lim- 

 its the size of the head to about four or five pounds. A ten-pound cab- 

 bage costing ten cents is too large because it cannot be used, so that the 

 sale is limited. The man who is growing cabbages for sale, therefore, 

 must either crowd the plants or, by sowing a little later, secure heads 

 weighing only four to six pounds. Of course, if grown for sauerkraut- 

 making and sold by the ton, this feature would not be important. 



Storhig. 



Cabbages should be left in the field as long as possible, but it is better 

 to harvest a week too early than a week too late. They must not be 

 stored when wet or handled when frozen. Cabbages which are bruised 

 when frozen are invariably spoiled and will not store. An immature 

 crop, one in which the heads are undersized, should not be regarded as a 

 failure, but it should be stored as described for storing seed cabbage, 

 page 31. In this way the head will develop and the most be made of it. 

 Heads which have not quite reached maturity are the best for storage. 



Method I. One of the simplest ways is to store in an orchard or 

 some sheltered place, often alongside a fence which has been made tight 

 by a liberal use of straw. The cabbage are stored with their stems on 

 and are placed head down and as close together as possible. Two or 

 three tiers are often made, the heads of the second tier being placed be- 

 tween the stems of the lower, and so on, the piles being made of any 

 width and length desired. The whole is covered with leaves, salt hay 

 or straw and a little soil, rails, brush or litter. Small unsalable heads 



