86 TRUCK FARMING 



where cabbage seed dropped by the field-side made fine, large, 

 beautiful heads, without a bit of cultivation or fertilizer. This, of 

 course, was only when it happened to drop upon alluvial soil such 

 as abounds in the Everglades. In the selection of seed and grow- 

 ing of cabbage in this country, care should be taken to try to raise 

 only such varieties as do not produce too large a head ; otherwise 

 they become undesirable. The mammoth varieties of the North 

 average here such a size as can only be consumed in the larger 

 boarding-houses or hotels, one head making a meal for several 

 dozens of people. 



Any of the flat-head varieties, Brunswick or Old Stone Mason, 

 or Henderson's Succession, do splendidly here, producing a head 

 from five to ten pounds in weight, which is amply large for ordi- 

 nary market purposes or consumption. Seed can be sown any 

 time after August 1st. It can be sown in drills in the usual 

 manner, in a well prepared and fertilized seed-bed, covering it 

 slightly and keeping it well moistened and in a thrifty condition 

 until the character leaves are well developed. It should have an 

 application occasionally of tobacco dust while in the seed-bed, say 

 once or twice a week after the seed leaves appear above the 

 ground, to keep off the flea-beetles and worms, which at times are 

 very destructive. There is a small green or yellow worm which 

 seems to go right down into the heart, devouring it in a short 

 time if some precaution is not taken to drive it out. 



As soon as the character leaves have sufficiently developed 

 so as to be, say, an inch in diameter at their widest part, they 

 should be set in an open field, being placed about 14 to 18 inches 

 apart in the row, the rows being about three feet apart. The 

 ground should be enriched previously well with one of our best 

 vegetable manures containing about 6 per cent ammonia,* 6 per 

 cent phosphate and 7 or 8 per cent potash. As soon as the plants 

 stand up well and show a tendency to grow, they should be 

 worked, care being taken not to work too close to the plant with 

 the cultivators. A side application of fertilizer of the same analy- 

 sis should be applied every ten days throughout their growth, 

 400 or 500 pounds per acre being sufficient for each application 



See last part of Chapter VI. 



