32 OBI GIN AND HISTOEY OF OUR GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



Thus Turner observes (1547) that ihe English name was Cole or Keele, 

 the Dutch Kol, the French Chaules, and that the apothecaries of his 

 day actually called the plant Caulis. 



In a glossary of the fourteenth century called " Sinonoma Bartho- 

 lomei " it is said that Bras sica was the name before transplanting; 

 afterwards, as a garden vegetable, it was called Caulis. This was the 

 official name, corrupted into the English forms cole, coule, rede-coule, 

 coole, and reed-worte, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 



The Foliage. The most important writer on the Cabbage among 

 the ancients is Pliny. He commences his chapter on the varieties as 

 follows: " Cabbage and Coleworts, which at the present day are the 



'' 



FIG. 13. BRASSICA RAPOSA, ORIGIN OF KOHL RABI (HISTORIA PLANTARTJM, 1586). 



most highly esteemed of all the garden vegetables, were held in little 

 repute among the Greeks." But Cato, on the other hand, sings the 

 wondrous praises of the cabbage. He distinguishes three varieties : the 

 first, a plant with leaves wide open and a large stalk [the early Savoy 

 Cabbage?] ; a second, with crisped leaves, to which he gives the name 

 of apiaca [curled colewort ?] ; and a third, with a thin stalk and a 

 smooth, tender leaf, which with, him ranks the lowest of all [not 

 identifiable; probably near to the wild form.] 



" The best time for sowing them is at the autumnal equinox, and 

 they are usually transplanted as soon as five leaves are visible. In the 

 ensuing spring, after the first cutting, the plant yields sprouts, known 



