Vegetable Growing for Market 



8 9 



Some growers make sowings in August or September in order to get 

 early plants for the spring planting, some even going the length of using 

 glass for the purpose. Sowings made, however, in February or March and 

 planted out on the first opportumt}^ in May will produce Sprouts early enough 

 for most seasons, for few people would care to put sprouts on their menu 

 while the weather is hot, and beans and cauliflowers are in full swing. 

 Other growers sow the Brussels Sprouts in drills to thin out, and utilize the 

 middle to get a crop of Lettuce or Spinach 

 while the Sprouts are growing. There is 

 a good deal to be said for this plan, be- 

 cause it gets the Sprouts in quite early 

 enough, while in a dry summer it makes 

 sure of one principal crop of winter green- 

 stuff, and eases the anxiety the market gar- 

 dener must always have in summer until 

 he sees his winter crops well established. 



Brussels Sprouts should have plenty of 

 room, 3 ft. by 2 ft. 6 in. being a good dis- 

 tance on good land. For the London mar- 

 ket the practice among growers in the 

 neighbourhood of London is to send the 

 Sprouts to market in half-bushel baskets, 

 with the tops rounded over with Sprouts 

 neatly placed side by side with the stalks 

 under. The growers of Bedfordshire and 

 Worcestershire send their Sprouts in ham- 

 pers and pots without going to the trouble 

 of topping. The cost of picking and top- 

 ping a half-bushel of Sprouts is 3d.: the 

 price, Is. to 2s. Qd.', and the product of an 

 acre about 200 half-bushels. 



The "tops" are sometimes saleable in 

 late winter, and make about 6cZ. per bushel; 

 150 bushels may be got off an acre. The 



stumps of the Brussels Sprouts, after the Sprouts are all gathered, make 

 valuable food for stock, either sheep or cattle. [w. G. L.] 



Fig. 465. Brussels Sprouts 



9. CABBAGES 



The many varieties of Cabbage have been evolved from the wild 

 Brassica oleracea, a Cruciferous weed found growing wild on the sea 

 cliffs of the south-west of England and Wales, the Channel Islands, &c. 

 As a farm and market-garden crop it is generally cultivated throughout 

 the British Islands. The Returns of the Board of Agriculture for the 

 year 1911 show that 58,092 ac. of Cabbages are grown in England, 6302 ac. 



