CABBAGES 



cultivation of them, in America, will be a work of time. A pro 

 position to do any thing new, in so common a calling as agriculture, 

 is looked at with suspicion ; and, by some, with feelings not of the 

 kindest description ; because it seems to imply an imputation of 

 ignorance in those to whom the proposition is made. A little 

 reflection will, however, suppress this feeling in men of sense ; 

 and, those who still entertain it may console themselves with the 

 assurance, that no one will desire to compel them to have stores of 

 green, or moist, cattle-food in winter. To be ashamed to be 

 taught is one of the greatest of human follies ; but, I must say, 

 that it is a folly less prevalent in America than in any other country 

 with which I am acquainted. 



190. Besides the disposition to reject novelties, this proposition 

 of mine has books to contend against. I read, last fall, in an 

 American Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, &quot; greatly 

 enlarged and improved&quot; some observations on the culture of 

 cabbages as cattle-food, which were well calculated to deter a 

 reader of that book from attempting the culture. I do not recollect 

 the words : but, the substance was, that this plant could not be 

 cultivated to advantage by the farmer IN AMERICA. This was the 

 more provoking to me, as I had, at that moment, so fine a piece of 

 cabbages in Long Island. If the American Editor of this work 

 had given his readers the bare, unimproved, Scotch Edition, the 

 reader would have there seen, that, in England and Scotland, they 

 raise sixty-eight tons of cabbages (tons mind) upon an acre : and 

 that the whole expence of an acre, exclusive of rent, is one pound, 

 fourteen shillings and a penny : or seven dollars and seventy-five 

 cents. Say that the expence in America is double and the crop 

 one half, or one fourth, if you like. Where are seventeen tons 

 of green food in winter, or even in summer, to be got for sixteen 

 dollars : Nay, where is that quantity, of such a quality, to be got 

 for fifty dollars? The Scotch Edition gives an account of fifty - 

 four tons raised on an acre where the land was worth only twelve 

 shillings (less than three dollars) an acre. In fairness, then the 

 American Editor should have given to his agricultural readers 

 what the Scotchman had said upon the subject. And, if he still 

 thought it right to advise the American farmers not to think of 

 cabbages, he should, I think, have offered them some, at least, 

 of the reasons for his believing, that that which was obtained in 

 such abundance in England and Scotland, was not to be obtained 

 to any profit at all here. What ! will not this immense region 

 furnish a climate, for this purpose, equal even to Scotland, where 

 an oat will hardly ripen ; and where the crop of that miserable 

 grain is sometimes harvested amidst ice and snow ! The pro 

 position is, upon the face of it, an absurdity ; and my experience 

 proves it to be false. 



191. This book says, if I recollect rightly, that the culture has 

 been tried, and has failed. Tried ? How tried ? That cabbages, 

 and most beautiful cabbages will grow, in all parts of America, 



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