216 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
SPRING CABBAGES. 
BY A KENTISH GARDENER. 
mamoryT THOUGH the Cabbage is usually considered a very 
f | common-place vegetable, there must be no disguising 
yy the fact that for certain seasons of the year it has no 
equal amongst the vegetables that may be brought to 
= perfection in the open quarters. Especially valuable is 
the cabbage during the months of May and June, when it must be 
confessed that green vegetables are not over plentiful, even in 
gardens of considerable extent, and under the charge of the most 
skilful practitioners. The broccolis and kales which constitute the 
most useful of the winter vegetables, become scarce by the time 
May is fairly in, and with the exception of the spinach and the 
earliest of the peas, the crops properly belonging to the summer are 
not available for the table until quite the end of June. It isin 
these two months that cabbage may be had in abundance, and also 
in the highest degree of perfection. Cabbages, when well grown, 
are exceedingly good in October and November; but to my mind, 
they are never so tender and delicious in flavour as in May and June. 
The labour necessary to produce a really good crop of cabbages fit 
for the table in these months, is not so great as to impose a severe 
strain upon the resources of the cultivator ; and, on the other hand, 
it must not be supposed that because they do not belong to the 
aristocracy of the kitchen garden, good crops can be had without 
any trouble. As a matter of fact, they must have good cultivation, 
and the various details receive attention at the proper moment. 
I have thought it desirable to direct attention to the matter now, 
because to have a good supply of cabbage next spring, a beginning 
must be made in the course of the current month. To grow the 
best sort for the season is of primary importance, and to afford all 
the assistance possible I will first of all say that after growing at 
different times the greater proportion of the varieties entered in the 
trade lists, I have arrived at the conclusion that Atkins’s Matchless 
and Wheeler’s Cocoa Nut are the two best sorts of small growth, and 
Enfield Market the best of those attaining a large size. It is an 
excellent plan to grow an equal proportion of each, as they are 
ready for use in the order in which the names are placed, and form 
a succession. The time of sowing the seed must be regulated by 
the locality and the sorts grown, and no date can be given as appli- 
cable to all the sorts and the various localities. The season for 
sowing the seed may be said to extend over a month, commencing 
with the middle of July, and as affording a good idea of the best 
time for sowing the several sorts, it may be said that in cold locali- 
ties northwards, Enfield Market and other large sorts, are best sown 
about July 15; and Atkins’s Matchless and other small, quick- 
hearting kinds, three weeks afterwards. In the midland counties, 
the respective sowings should be made in the third week of July 
and the second week of August; and in the south, the sowings 
ao Pt 
ms i 
