Book VI. THE CABBAGE. 799 



4967. To save seed, select the finest specimens, preserve them in sand during winter, 

 and plant them in an airy part of the garden in March. The rest is easy. 



4968. To diseases no plant is less liable than the beet. 



Sect. VI. The Cabbage Tribe. Brassica, L. Tetrad. Siliq. L. and Cruciferee. J. 

 Chouy Fr. ; Kohl, Ger. ; and Cavoloy Ital. 



4969. The cabbage tribe are of the greatest antiquity in gardens, and most of them may 

 be cultivated in the fields with success. For the common purposes of farming, however, 

 there can be little doubt that they will afford less profit than any of the plants hitherto 

 treated of in this chapter ; but near large towns or sea-ports, they may answer the purpose 

 of the farm-gardener. Cabbage culture, Brown observes, is much more hazardous, far less 

 profitable, and attended with infinitely more trouble than that of turnips, while the ad- 

 vantages to be derived from them are not, in our opinion, of a description to compensate 

 the extra hazard and trouble thereby incurred. 



4970. The culture of cabbage has been strongly recommended by several speculative 

 agriculturists, and examples adduced of extraordinary produce and profits; but any 

 plant treated in an extraordinary manner will give extraordinary results ; and thus an 

 inferior production may be made to appear more valuable than it really is. One reason 

 why so much has been said in their favor by Arthur Young and other southern farmers, 

 is, that they compare them with the produce of turnips, which, in the south of England, 

 is averaged at only 15 tons per acre. 



4971. The variety of cabbage cultivated in the fields for cattle, is almost exclusively 

 the large field cabbage, called also the Scotch, Strasburg, drumhead, &c. For the pur- 

 poses of domestic economy, other varieties of early and late cabbage, as the York, Batter- 

 sea, sugar-loaf, imperial, &c. are grown, and also German greens. Savoy cabbage, and 

 even Brussels sprouts and brocoli. The Kohl riibe, or turnip-cabbage, has also been 

 tried, but it is not fit to use in British cookery, and in respect to its properties in any 

 other respect, it has not one to recommend it. 



4972. Any soil that is rich will suit the cabbage, but a strong loam is preferred. The 

 best mode of preparation for field cabbage is that for potatoes or turnips, the plants being 

 dibbled along the centre of each ridgelet. For early cabbage no ridgelets are required, 

 as the plants are inserted in rows, by a line at much narrower distances. 



4973. The season for planting for a full crop of field cabbages, is usually March ; but 

 cabbages may be planted as late as June, and produce a tolerable crop by November ; 

 and in this way they may sometimes be made to succeed an unsuccessful sowing of 

 turnips. The plants used in March should be the produce of seed sown in an open 

 loamy part of the garden in the preceding August ; but those planted in May or June 

 may be the produce of seed sown in the February or March of the same year. 



4974. The preparation given to the plants consists in pinching off the extremity of 

 their tap-root, and any tubercles which appear on the root or stem, and in immersing the 

 root and stem in a puddle, or mixture of earth and water, to protect the fibres and pores 

 of the roots and stem from the drought. The plants may then be inserted by the dibber, 

 taking care not to plant fhem too deep, and to press the earth firmly to the lower extre- 

 mity of the root. If this last point is not attended to in planting by the dibber, the 

 plants will either die, or, if kept alive by the moisture of the soil or rain, their progress 

 will be very slow. When the distance between the ridgelets is twenty-seven inches, the 

 plants are set about two feet asunder in the rows, and the quantity required for an acre 

 is about 6000 plants. Some recommend sowing as for turnips; but by this mode 

 one of the advantages of a green crop is infringed on : viz. the time given to clean the 

 land. Where cabbages are sown, that operation must be performed at least a month 

 sooner than if they were planted ; consequently, the best month of the cleaning season is 

 lost. To plant or sow a green crop on land in good heart, that does not require clean- 

 ing, will seldom be found good husbandry. It may succeed near large towns, where 

 roots and other green produce sells high, but it can never enter into any general system 

 of farming. 



4975. The cfter-culture consists in horse and hand-hoeing and weeding ; and the crop 

 is taken by chopping off' the heads with the spade, leaving an inch or two of stalk to each. 

 They may be preserved by housing, but only for a short time. The produce is said to 

 be from 35 to 40 tons per acre. Sir H. Davy found that 1000 parts of cabbage gave 73 

 of nutritive matter, of which 41 are mucilage, 24 saccharine matter, and 8 gluten. 



4976. The application of the field cabbage is generally to the feeding of milch-cows, and 

 sometimes to the fattening of oxen and sheep. For the former purpose great care must 

 be taken to remove the outside decaying leaves, otherwise they are apt to give an un- 

 pleasant flavor to the milk and butter. Cabbages are also eaten by swine and horses, 

 and are reckoned excellent food for sheep that have newly-dropped their lambs, and for 

 calves. A cow will eat from 100 to 150 lbs. of cabbage per day, and a sheep ten or 

 twelve pounds, besides a moderate allowance of hay. Early or garden cabbages are sold 



