THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



479 



THE CABBAGE AND ITS USES, 



Our special department being' the diffusion of useful 

 hints and practical information relative to the pro- 

 ducts of the soil, we have gathered together, for the 

 benefit of our readers, a few notes on the cabbage tribe. 

 They are applied to a greater number of pui'poses than 

 many would suppose, and afford an addition to food in 

 a great number of forms, ages, and parts of the plant. 

 The roots, the leaves, the stems, and the buds of the 

 cruciferous esculent sare eaten raw or dressed in various 

 ways, and the seeds of many species are valuable on 

 account of the oil which they afford. 



Many a good stout cudgel and serviceable walking- 

 stick is furnished by the stem of the grea*; Jersey cow 

 or tree cabbage. In the northern departments of France 

 the longest of the stalks are u?ed for supporting kidney 

 beans and peas, &c., and also as cross-spars for the 

 purpose of supporting the thatch or roof of the smaller 

 class of farm-buildings, cottages, &c., and when kept 

 dry are said to last upwards of half-a-century. 



The poet Burns alludes to the castocks, or cabbage 

 stems, which, after the fibrous part was picked off, were 

 boiled and eaten, Before the introduction of the 

 turnip into general use in Scotland, this medullary sub- 

 stance of the stalks was very commonly eaten by the 

 peasantry, while the outside portion was given as a 

 dainty to the favourite milch cows. 



Few of our culinary plants have been more improved 

 and extended by culture than the cabbage and its varie- 

 ties. The effect of careful cultivation, improvement, and 

 election of the most deserving varieties on many of our 

 cultivated economical plants shows how nmch may yet 

 be done by experimentalizing on new tuberous roots and 

 other esculents. Nor can a more suitable example be 

 adduced than to compare the insignificant weed-like 

 original cabbage plant on the cliffs of our sea-coast 

 with the gigantic tree or cow-cabbage, the lai-ge close- 

 head of the drum-head cabbage, or with the different 

 forms or habits of growth apparent in the Brussels' 

 sprouts, red cabbage, thousand-headed cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, kohl-rabi, and numerous other varieties. 



"Much," observe Messrs. Lawson and Son, "has 

 been said and written recommendatory of tlie cabbage 

 tribe being more extensively subjected to field-culture 

 in this country, for feeding cattle, sheep, swine, and 

 even poultry; but judging from many trials which 

 have been made, as well as from the natural habits of 

 the whole tribe, their culture seems only likely to be 

 attended with any chance of advantage on the most 

 superior class of soils, particularly on such as are 

 of rather strong texture, and where an abundant supply 

 of manure can be hid ; and even in many such cases 

 it is questionable how far they ought to bo preferred to 

 turnips, over which, however, they possess the advantage 

 of improving rathor than deteriorating the quality of 

 the milk of cows fed upon them, and also of growing 

 freely on lands which are too stiff in texture for the 



growth of any sort of turnips." The extent of land 

 under culture with cabbages as a field crop in the 

 United Kingdom is very inconsiderable. In Scotland 

 there were in 1857 1,704 acres, in Ireland 30,011 acres, 

 and in England and Wales about 97,334 acres with 

 cabbages and a few other small green crops. 



Arthur Young wrote that an average crop of cabbage 

 on a dry soil was about 3G tons, and on a sandy soil 

 half that quantity. But, although 30 tons per acre 

 are often grown by good cultivation, yet few crops 

 reach to that extent, and in Ireland the average yield 

 is scarcely 15 tons the acre. As. a pot-herb, cabbages, 

 broccoli, &c., are in considerable demand, whether it be 

 the Brussels sprouts, esteemed for their tenderness and 

 good flavour ; the savoys, with firm heads, and the 

 best winter cabbage for family use ; the solid heavy 

 drum-heads; the sugar-loaves; the red Dutch, for 

 pickling and for salads ; the early cauliflowers, &c. 

 Ten years ago, Mr, Braithwaite Poole, in his Statistics 

 of British Commerce, estimated the weight of these 

 vegetables brought annually into the London markets 

 at 80,000 tons of cabbages, 32,000 tons of broccoli, and 

 4,150 tons of turnip-tops. Single growers will some- 

 times send up to one salesman in Covent Garden 

 market seven or eight waggon loads of cabbages daily, 

 each comprising a hundred-and-fifty dozen. There 

 are many others besides Dr. Johnson who think the 

 cauliflower the best of all the flowers sent to Covent 

 Garden. 



When Ray made a tour along the eastern coasts of 

 the kingdom in 16G0, after describing the wretched 

 system of Scottish agriculture, he goes on to say : 

 " They have neither good bi-ead, cheese, nor drink. 

 They cannot make them, nor will they learn. Their 

 butter is very indifferent, and one would wonder how 

 they could contrive to make it so bad. They use much 

 pottage, made of colewort, which they call 'kail,' and 

 sometimes broth of decorticated barley." We cannot 

 help sympathizing witli the unfortunate traveller when 

 introduced to such a bill of faro as the natives of the 

 North seem to have indulged in. We can understand 

 his discomfort at the taste and quality of cabbage-soup, 

 oaten cake, and barley-brae, and are not astonished to 

 find that their agriculture generally was then at the 

 low ebb the system of living starvation seems to imply. 

 The kail-brose was then made with oatmeal : it was 

 barefit kail or water kail. But the kail-brose or kail- 

 kennin of the present day is an improvement upon by- 

 gone broths. 



The " Kale Brose o' auld Scotland" is celebrated to 

 the sime tune as the " Roast Beef of Old England," 

 and though, with many of the ancient peculiarities of 

 the people, it has fallen much into disuse, it is still con- 

 sidered a national dish. 



Cabbage soup is, however, a very common dish in many 

 countries. " Minestra rerde"— greens boiled ia pluin 

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