394 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



c(l. The prime requisite is tliat they be 

 kept cold and moist. Warmth and damp- 

 ness are sure to cause rot in a short time. 

 Frost does Httle (hunajre provided they 

 are allowed to thaw out before being dis- 

 turbed. The general method adopted by 

 large growers is to put them in trenches and 

 cover them with eight or lo inches of soil 

 and sufficient mulch to prevent hard freez- 

 ing. Others recommend putting them di- 

 rectly into a cool cellar and storing in bins 

 three or four feet wide so that a free circu- 

 lation of air is allowed. For small grow- 

 ers who wish to keep a few over winter for 

 home use the best plan is to bury the head 

 in sand or to heel in the roots. In every 

 case all the loose outside leaves should be 

 removed before storing. 



"If planted late," said Mr. Guthrie, of 

 Wright avenue, Toronto, to The Horticul- 

 turist, " the St. Dennis is a good keeper. 

 When planted early 50 per cent, of them 

 crack. Quintal is one of the best keepers. 

 The Drumhead Savoy also gives good satis- 

 faction. As a rule I do not pull late varie- 

 ties of cabbage before November 15. They 

 should be pulled and left roots upward for 

 a week or so to allow all the water to drain 

 out. If water remains in the head rot soon 

 develops. 



" I store them root and all because they 

 keep much better. They require too much 

 room in a cellar, so I put what is not sold 

 before winter into long pits. Large ones 

 can be laid two deep, while smaller ones 

 will keep well if three layers are placed. 

 They are put on the surface and furrows 

 turned in with just enough space between 

 to allow the cabbages to be placed roots to- 

 gether and heads outward. 



" Then they are covered with clay. The 

 less soil is put over them the better as long 

 as they are covered. I want them to be 

 frozen as hard as frost will freeze them, but 

 alternate freezing and thawing would spoil 



them. An air hole is left at each end so 

 that there is no danger of their heating. 



" In the fall I always store some in the 

 cellar for present use. When more are 

 needed a pit is opened and enough are 

 brought in to fill sales for two or three 

 weeks.'' 



" I have a special frost-proof cellar for 

 celery and cabbage," said Air. J. E. Terrill, 

 of Picton, to a member of The Horticultur- 

 ist staff who visited his place recently. "The 

 cabbage are pulled about the first week in 

 November and the roots cut off. Then 

 they are piled in this storehouse in pyra- 

 midal heaps, bottom side up, so that the 

 water drains out. If they are put in when 

 wet, rot sets in. They do not rot so quickly 

 with the roots cut off and piled this way as 

 they do with roots on. I can have nice solid 

 cabbage up to May i easily." 



The method practised by Mr. Jas. Gib- 

 bard, of Doncaster, is to plow two furrows 

 toward each other, leaving space enough 

 for piling two rows of cabbages with the 

 roots together. " When one layer is put 

 in," said Mr. Gibbard, " I cover it with 

 earth. Then another tier of cabbage is put 

 on and again a thin layer of earth is added. 

 Cabbage are then put along the centre to 

 round the pit up nicely, and the whole is 

 covered with eight or 10 inches of earth. 

 In case heavy frost comes without any snow 

 it is well to cover with long manure. If 

 the deep covering is not added until hard 

 frost comes there is no need of air holes. 



" Some growers claim that heavy frost 

 does not hurt cabbage, but I find that those 

 on top are always the first to go, and in the 

 winter of 1903 I lost many, so I have de- 

 cided that hard freezing damages them." 



I prefer using compost as a fertilizer in 

 the fall on my garden, and then there is no 

 need for spring plowing. — (Geo. Beniier, 

 Burlington, Ont. 



