90 Commercial Gardening 



in Scotland, and 785 ac. in Wales, making a total for Great Britain of 

 65,179 ac. Something like 40,000 ac. are devoted to the Cabbage crop in 

 Ireland, making a round total of 105,000 ac. for the United Kingdom. 

 In England the largest Cabbage -growing counties are: Essex, 4964 ac.; 

 Kent, 4722 ac.; Devon, 3425 ac.; Lancaster, 2834 ac.; Hampshire, 2738 ac.; 

 Sussex, 2630 ac.r Cornwall, 2437 ac.; Derby, 2004 a.: Middlesex, 1998 ac.; 

 Bedfordshire, 1971 ac.; Norfolk, 1968 ac.; and Suffolk, 1927 ac. Worces- 

 tershire and Staffordshire both have over 1800 ac. each, and about a dozen 

 others are credited with an area of 1000 ac. or over. Middlesex is the 

 largest Cabbage -growing county in proportion to its size, about 1 ac. in 

 every 90 being under the crop. 



In Ireland, Munster is the largest Cabbage-growing province, with over 

 16,000 ac., Leinster and Connaught are close together with over 8000 ac. 

 each, and Ulster has over 6000 ac. Amongst the counties, Kerry leads 

 the way with over 4000 ac.; then come Cork, nearly 4000 ac. ; Tipperary, 

 about 3500 ac.; Galway, 2500 ac. nearly; and Mayo, Limerick, and Donegal, 

 each with over 2000 ac. in the order given. According to the Irish figures, 

 the average yield of Cabbage works out at just over 10 tons to the acre. 



From the analysis of the ash given in Vol. I, p. 109, it will be seen 

 that the Cabbage and indeed -its relatives, the Cauliflower, Turnip, and 

 Kohl-rabi, &c. are all great feeders on the available potash in the soil, 

 from 31 to 50 per cent of the ash being composed of this food. Lime, 

 phosphoric acid, and sulphuric acid are also absorbed in fair quantities, 

 and indicate that the soil must be well and deeply worked to bring them 

 into a proper state of solubility. [j. w.] 



In some respects the Cabbage may be called the market gardener's 

 staple crop. Some have gone so far as to nickname him a "cabbage 

 grower ". The Cabbage, in some form or another, is with him all the year 

 round; as a finished product it is on his stand ten months out of the year. 

 The Cabbage is a gross feeder, and to produce it with well-developed heart, 

 succulent leaves, and clear green colour without blue requires deep cultiva- 

 tion and liberal but judicious manuring. 



Spring 1 Cabbages. In following the cycle of the Cabbage year, it 

 will, perhaps, be the more convenient to commence with the preparation 

 for the autumn-planted, spring-gathered Cabbage. The preparation of the 

 seed bed for this is perhaps one of the most anxious and important opera- 

 tions of the year. The weather in late summer is often so treacherous 

 that a good Cabbage seed bed is sometimes the most eloquent testimony 

 to the cultivator's skill, perseverance, and resource. 



A very good plan is to keep some land, from which a crop has been 

 gathered in June, fallow for the seed bed. 



Fallow does not mean leaving the land a happy hunting ground for 

 weeds. The object of the fallow is to conserve the moisture. This can 

 only be done by persistently killing all weed growths as soon as they show 

 themselves and before they can draw any moisture from the land. A 

 Bentall's Scarifier, or a Martin's or other cultivator, or any broad share 



