224 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



Soil. The cabbage does well on heavy soil, and it does 

 not object to alkali if it is not too strong. It delights in 

 copious treatment with stable manures. For quick fall 

 growth, for early winter maturity, such soil, if moist 

 enough by rainfall or irrigation, will bring it along rapidly 

 while the autumn heat is ample. For later fall planting to 

 reach early spring maturity, a warmer, lighter, well-drain- 

 ed soil or a raised bed will push full growth in a month or 

 six weeks less time than heavy soil in a rainy region, which 

 is likely to be cold and water-soaked. But the cabbage 

 sometimes repays great kindness by growth to bursting or 

 cracking of the head. Care should be had against over- 

 growth for this reason. Cracking can be prevented by giv- 

 ing heads which threaten it a pull, or a cut through the 

 roots with a spade, so as to lessen its riotous living by 

 partial arrest of its supplies. 



The Time to Plant. These points on soil condition also 

 suggest different times of planting in different localities, 

 according to what may be reasonably anticipated in the 

 way of heat and moisture. Even in the same locality there 

 will also be different dates of suitability, according to the 

 character of the current season. The best practice is to 

 have plants available in different seed beds and to plant 

 out in succession the thriftiest plants at hand at such times 

 as the season may show fitness. Planting by the calendar 

 is not usually intelligent practice in California, as has been 

 already stated. 



Growing Plants. It is wise in most parts of California 

 to start plants in a seed bed in August or September, irri- 

 gating the ground well to guard against drying out on 

 land not naturally moist. In the warmer coast regions 

 good plants can be grown at this time of the year in the 

 open ground in drills eight or ten inches apart for hand- 

 hoeing. In the interior, where temperature extremes are 

 liable to be greater, a cold-frame, or covered seed bed, 

 may be used to protect the young plants against hot, dry 

 winds. In small garden practice the use of the seed box 

 is often handier. Plants should be given space enough to 



