CABBAGES FOR SPRING 



93 



varieties of " Ox-Heart " Cabbages, one particularly 

 early being called Pomme de Paris. 



Other good sorts are "Express" (fig. 20), "Very 

 Early Etampes " (fig. 21), and " St. Denis." 



About the end of August, or early in September, 

 seeds are sown, and 

 these dates are very 

 strictly adhered to. 

 If sown much earlier 

 or later the plants 

 afterwards are in- 

 clined to run to seed 

 instead of forming 

 heads. About the 

 end of September the 

 young plants are "_* 



FIG. 21. EARLY ETAMPES CABBAGE. 



ready for pricking 



out into beds, care being taken at the time to reject 



all blind, deformed, or diseased plants. 



During November, sometimes even at the end of 

 October, the plants thus pricked out will be ready 

 for final planting. The ground is deeply dug, well 

 manured, and levelled in advance, and the young 

 plants have the stems buried until the lower leaves 

 rest on the surface of the soil. They are spaced out 

 1 8 in. to 2 ft. apart in shallow furrows about a foot 

 apart. 



The soil in which the Cabbages are to mature should 

 be deeply dug and well-manured, whether light or 

 heavy in its nature. Parisian gardeners are particu- 

 larly fond of night soil as a manure, especially for 

 Cabbage crops ; but nearly all decayed vegetable 

 refuse is also worked into the soil to enrich it in humus. 



