302 FORAGE CROPS 



wheat and grass, as it is a good preparatory crop 

 for wheat. 



Preparation of land for cabbage , and seeding 



As with rape, the land should be deeply plowed 

 and thoroughly cultivated, the surface well com- 

 pacted and made fine, in order that the plants may 

 not suffer for lack of food as soon as set. If seed 

 is used in the field, the germination should be 

 prompt and the earl}" growth rapid. Farmyard 

 manures are excellent, and, as the cabbage is a 

 gross feeder, applications of ten tons or more per 

 acre should be made even on good soils, and this 

 dressing supplemented with nitrate of soda. The 

 fertilizers recommended for rape, both in kind and 

 quantity, will answer for cabbage. Attempts should 

 not be made to grow cabbage unless there is an 

 abundance of available food. 



As a rule, cabbage is not grown from seed 

 planted directly in the field, and it is doubtful 

 whether its successful and profitable use as a 

 forage crop will warrant the extra labor required 

 in transplanting. Of course, more seed should 

 be used when the seed is planted directly in the 

 rows, thus permitting the removal of extra plants 

 when they have reached such size as to determine 

 their vitality. The seed, in this case, may be 

 sown with the ordinary grain drill. The rows 

 should be about two and one -half to three feet 



