606 



CABBAGE 



One of the best crops of early cabbage on record 

 was secured from what was regarded as naturally a 

 rather unfavorable soil that was not very heavily 

 fertilized, but received a shallow cultivation with a 

 harrow tooth cultivator every day (except Sundays and 

 on four days when the surface was so wet from rain 

 that it would puddle) after the plants were set until 

 the crop was in market condition. 



The time of planting for fall and winter cabbage and 

 the general cultural methods most likely to give good 

 results in any particular location are the same for both 

 seasons, the time of maturity being determined more 

 by the varietal character of the seed than by method 

 of culture. The cultural practice usually followed by 

 neighboring and equally successful growers is often 

 radically different! One planter may always, on some 

 fixed day in May or June, sow seed in flats and as soon 

 as the seedlings are well started pick them out into 

 other flats, and then again into a plant-bed and wait for 

 a favorable day, if necessary until August, before putting 

 them in the field. An equally successful neighboring 

 grower may wait until as late as the last of June and 

 sow thinly in well-prepared seed-beds and transplant 

 from them to the field, while still another may wait 

 for favorable weather even until the last of July and 

 then plant seed in place as is the usual practice of some 

 most successful growers. In New England, growers 

 often drill the seed in place, and when the plants are 

 well established chop out the superfluous ones. 



708. An outdoor method of storing cabbage. 



The weight or quantity of seed used for a given 

 area varies greatly, as the size of the individual seeds 

 vary, not only with different varieties but with different 

 lots of the same sort. Some growers expect to get 

 plants enough for an acre from less than an ounce, 

 while others require two to five tunes as much, and 

 those who sow in place often will use four to eight 

 ounces to the acre. Superlative crops have been 

 known to be grown by radically different methods, and 

 very often successful growers have some peculiarity of 

 practice which they deem essential to the best results, 

 but which a neighboring and equally successful 

 grower regards as a foolish waste of labor; but, how- 

 ever the practice of successful growers may differ, there 

 are some points in which they all agree. Among these 

 are, the use of the best obtainable seed of some par- 

 ticular variety which they have found by experience, 

 or which they believe is best adapted to their condi- 

 tions and is uniform in time of maturity, so that all 

 the heads are in prime condition and may be gathered 

 at the same time, which is an important factor in 

 determining cost of production, while uniformity in 

 shape, form and color are equally important in 

 determining salability. The quality of the seed used, 

 while not the only factor, is generally the most impor- 

 tant one in determining the uniformity of product 

 of any particular culture. Unchecked and constantly 

 accelerated rate of growth are most important factors 

 in securing the best possible development of any par- 

 ticular culture. Every check, whether it come from 

 overcrowding of the seedlings, careless transplanting, 

 or the caking and want of friability in the surface soil, 

 tends to divert the energy of the plant from the 

 unnatural and excessive leaf-formation upon which 



CABBAGE 



its value as a cultivated vegetable depends to the 

 more natural but less useful formation of blossoms 

 and seed. Just how on any particular farm the 

 most favorable conditions can be secured cannot be 

 told in general cultural directions, but must be de- 

 cided by the grower from his knowledge of the 

 character and wants of the plant, the condition of the 

 soil, and last, but by no means least, his facilities for 

 controlling the conditions upon which the growth of 

 the crop depends. 



Harvesting. 



This is the simplest and easiest part of cabbage- 

 growing. With an easily acquired dexterity, each head 

 in five or six rows can be cut, trimmed and tossed into 

 a central windrow by a single well-directed stroke of a 

 well-sharpened spade or heavy hoe. Occasionally, be- 

 cause of some unnatural growth of the plant, or want 

 of attention, a head will need retrimming, but by the 

 exercise of a little care, practically all of them can be 

 kept in marketable shape. From the windrows, the 

 heads are gathered and loaded loose into cars, delivered 

 to factories or placed in storage. Yields secured vary 

 greatly, being influenced by the sort, the quality of 

 the seed, the character of the soil, loss from insects and 

 disease; they generally range from five to twenty tons 

 to the acre. The crop is usually readily salable in the 

 fall, delivered at factory or on board cars at prices 

 ranging from $4, or even less, to $10 to $20 a ton. 



Marketing. 



Cabbage greens. In 

 some sections, notably 

 southern Mississippi and 

 Louisiana, considerable 

 acreage is grown and 

 marketed as cabbage 

 greens. The seed is sown 

 in place or the plants are 

 set quite close in the row, 

 and as soon as they have 

 commenced active 



growth and long before they have formed a distinct 

 head, they are cut and marketed much in the same 

 manner as spinach or kale, but this method of culture 

 and use is very limited. 



Early cabbage is generally considered marketable as 

 soon as the leaves have closed into a head, even if this 

 is still so soft and loose that it would be quite unmar- 

 ketable later in the season. If cabbages are cut when 

 soft and immature, they soon wilt and lose all crisp- 

 ness and palatability; to avoid this, the earlier ship- 

 ments are made in small open crates containing less 

 than a score of heads, or sometimes in larger closed 

 ones carrying ice, and often in refrigerator cars. Later 

 in the season, as the heads become larger and harder, 

 they are shipped in slat crates about 12 by 18 by 

 38 inches, or in ventilated burlap-covered barrels 

 holding about two and three-fourths bushels. 



Fall and winter cabbages are usually sold by the ton, 

 of much more closely trimmed heads than are con- 

 sidered marketable earlier in the season, and are com- 

 monly shipped in open and well-ventilated cars without 

 special container or packing, except as may be neces- 

 sary to protect from hard freezing. Many acres are 

 grown on contracts with shippers, packers of sauer- 

 kraut, and the like, who contract for the delivery direct 

 from the field to factory or on board cars, of the usable 

 product of a certain acreage at an agreed price per ton. 

 While this is sometimes a very satisfactory arrange- 

 ment, many careless and incompetent growers are 

 induced to contract, and their neglected crops become 

 infected with disease and insects which spread to the 

 fields of even the most careful growers, and the crop 

 in the. vicinity of such factories and shipping-points 

 soon becomes unprofitable. 



