'SS 414 GARDEN VEGETABLES— CABBAGE AND BORECOLE. 



ironc off to California since lust season, I 8up])ose it will 1)C found easy for our 

 future fruit conventions to unite in some plan of comfortable, harmonious action 

 for the future. 1 am the more confident that this will l)e the case, from the s])irit 

 of good-will which I see maintained in your jouriud, takinu^ the ground that a 

 •renuine fraternity of interests is the only means of bringing out all the informa- 

 tion in the country. 



Certainly it is a pleasant thought, that all the leading fruit growers in the 

 country can meet and fraternize once a year, l)ringing from all parts of the Union 

 the stores of their experience, and the fruits of their culture, and raising up a 

 pyramid of knowledge for the general good. It is so ])Ieasant a thought, that I 

 will leave it for your readers to revolve in their minds, and see what good may 

 come out of it. Yours, &c., An Old Digger. 



GARDEN VEGETABLES, NO. 9. — CABBAGE AND 



BORE COLE. 



BY WM. CHORLTON. 



Everybody who attempts to grow garden vegetables, and has possession of 

 only a "city lot," thinks of planting a portion with Cabbages; but the same 

 everybody does not always cultivate the best varieties, or manage what they do 

 grow in the best manner. Owing to either one or both of these mistakes, they 

 have for their troul)le a ])roduct which, if not positively unwholesome, is far infe- 

 rior in quality to what may be obtained. A well-grown and good Cabbage, when 

 rightly cooked, is sweet flavored, tender as marrow, and free from all disagreeable 

 or pungent odor or taste, and in such state, if it be not one of the most nutritious, 

 is certainly a very acceptable kitchen esculent. In any other condition, it is not 

 fit for human food, being partly indigestible, and causing flatulency. 



All the varieties of the Cabbage and its allies have been produced from a com- 

 paratively worthless ))lant found growing w^ld on the sea-shores of England, and 

 some of the other mild parts of Europe. " The cabbage tribe," says Loudon, in 

 his usually expressive style, "is, of all the classes of cultivated culinary vegetables, 

 the most ancient as well as the most extensive. The Brussica oleracea being ex- 

 tremely liable to sport, or run into varieties and monstrosities, has, in the course 

 of time, become the parent of a numerous race of culinary productions, so very 

 various in their habit and appearance, that to many it may appear not a little 

 extravagant to refer them to the same origin. Besides the different sorts of white 

 and red Cabbage, and savoys which form the leaves into a head, there are vari- 

 ous sorts of Borecoles which grow with their leaves loose in the natural way, and 

 there are several kinds of cauliflower and broccoli which form their stalks or flower 

 buds into a head. All of these, with the turnip-rooted Cabbage and the Brussels 

 sprouts, claim a common origin from the single species of Brassica above men- 

 tioned." Notwithstanding this immense variety, and the extreme liability to 

 sport, the individual sorts may be kept perfectly true to character when not in the 

 neighborhood, or under the influence of other kinds whilst in flower; consequently, 

 where the saving of seed is an object, it will be well to bear this in mind. 



As there is no service to be rendered by an extensive list, it is enough, for all 

 practical purposes, to enumerate a few^ of the best, so as to supply all the re- 

 quisitions for culinary use. The following, therefore, will secure this : — 



Cabbage or Close-headed Varieties. Small Early York. — A very early kind, 

 close-headed, oval-shaped, small size, and good flavor. This and the next men- 

 tioned, are the best two for the first early crop. The seed should be sowed from 



