33 



BULLETIN OF 



Massachusetts Boaed of Agriculture. 



CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER AS MARKET-GARDEN AND 

 FARM CROPS. 



Adapted from Farmers' Bulletin No. 433 op the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, "Cabbage," by L. C. Corbett, Horticulturist, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, — adaptation by Howard N. Legate, First Clerk. 



Cabbage as a Market-garden Crop. 



Cabbage is a crop which is grown by every market gardener located 

 within wagon-hauling distance of an important center of consump- 

 tion. The statistics of the distribution of the cultivation of cabbage 

 clearly indicate the fact that this is one of the important crops grown 

 by market gardeners. The counties near each of the important centers 

 of population of the United States are almost universally credited with 

 a considerable acreage of cabbage, thus showing that the gardeners of 

 these regions have given considerable attention to the production of 

 this crop. 



Soil. — The soil for cabbage must necessarily vary in different 

 localities. In one area it may be of alluvial character, while in another 

 it may be sedentary, and in still another it may be characteristic 

 glacial drift. The fact that cabbage grows well in all these soils in- 

 dicates its adaptation to a wide range of conditions. The main thing 

 with cabbage is an abundant supply of immediately available plant 

 food. Market gardeners rely chiefly upon stable manure for their 

 supply of plant food. Fertilizers also form an important item in the 

 expense of producing cabbage as a market-garden crop, the quantity 

 used depending upon the quantity and character of the supply of 

 stable manure. The fertilizers chiefly used carry a liberal percentage 

 of available nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda or sulphate of am- 

 monia (often as much as 4 or 5 per cent), 6 to 8 per cent of phosphoric 

 acid and 8 to 10 per cent of potash. As a result of the wise use of 

 fertilizers the soils of the marked-gardening zone around any city or 

 large town rapidly improve in fertility, and the gardener is able to 

 grow a greater variety and larger quantities of products. 



