CABBAGES 



every farmer knows ; for he has them in his garden, or sees them, 

 every year, in the gardens of others. And, if they will grow in 

 gardens, why not infields ? Is there common sense in supposing, 

 that they will not grow in a piece of land, because it is not called 

 a garden ? The Encyclopaedia Britannica gives an account of 

 twelve acres of cabbages, which would keep &quot;forty-five oxen and 

 &quot; sixty sheep for three months : improving them as much as the 

 &quot; grass in the best months in the year (in England) May, June, 

 &quot; and July.&quot; Of these large cabbages, being at four feet apart in 

 the rows, one man will easily plant out an acre in a day. As to 

 the seed-bed, the labour of that is nothing, as we have seen. Why, 

 then, are men frightened at the labour ? All but the mere act of 

 planting is performed by oxen or horses ; and they never com 

 plain of &quot; the labour&quot; The labour of an acre of cabbages is 

 not half so much as that of an acre of Indian Corn. The bringing 

 in of the crop and applying it are not more expensive than those 

 of the corn. And will any man pretend, that an acre of good 

 cabbages is not worth three times as much as a crop of good corn ? 

 Besides, if early cabbages, they are off and leave the land for 

 transplanted Swedish Turnips, for Late Cabbages, or for Buck 

 wheat ; and, if late cabbages, they come after early ones, after 

 wheat, rye, oats, or barley. This is what takes place even in 

 England, where the fall is so much shorter, as to growing weather, 

 than it is in Long Island, and, of course, all the way to Georgia. 

 More to the North, in the latitude of Boston, for instance, two 

 crops of early cabbages will come upon the same ground ; or a 

 crop of early cabbages will follow any sort of grain, except 

 Buckwheat. 



192. In concluding this Chapter I cannot help strongly recom 

 mending farmers who may be disposed to try this culture, to try 

 it fairly. That is to say, to employ true seed, good land, and due 

 care : for, as &quot; men do not gather grapes from thorns, nor figs 

 &quot; from thistles,&quot; so they do not harvest cabbages from stems of 

 rape. Then, as to the land, it must be made good and rich, if 

 it be not in that state already ; for a cabbage will not be fine, 

 where a white Turnip will ; but as the quantity of land, wanted for 

 this purpose, is comparatively very small, the land may easily 

 be made rich. The after-culture of cabbages is trifling. No 

 weeds to plague us with hand-work. Two good ploughings, 

 at most, will suffice. But ploughing after planting out is 

 necessary ; and, besides, it leaves the ground in so fine a state. 

 The trial may be on a small scale, if the farmer please. Perhaps 

 it were best to be such. But, on whatever scale, let the trial 

 be a fair trial. 



193. I shall speak again to the use of cabbages, when I corne to 

 speak of Hogs and Cows. 



