35 



the time when he can utilize the crop gro^mi from seed sown in April 

 or May in the open, the plants of which are usually transplanted, in 

 the latitude of New York, to open field from June 20 to July 1. This 

 crop provides a fall supply of cabbage for the market, and when treated 

 as a field crop is used by the sauerkraut factories and the storage houses, 

 and is marketed in carload lots in the southern cities and towns, where 

 extensive manufacturing enterprises are conducted. 



Cultivation. — Among market gardeners it is a common expression 

 that "cabbage should be hoed every day." Perhaps no other crop 

 responds more quickly to good cultivation and an ample food supply. 

 This is undoubtedly the explanation of the above-quoted expression. 

 In cultivating cabbage the work should be frequent and thorough, 

 but the cultivation should not be deep. The aim should be to destroy 

 all competing weeds, and maintain a loose, friable layer of soil about 

 2 inches deep over the surface of the area devoted to cabbage. 



Harvesting. — The early cabbage which is grown by the market 

 gardener is cut, carefully trimmed, and marketed from his wagon or 

 stall. The later crop, which is harvested in the fall, may not be 

 marketed immediately, but may be stored temporarily in a cool, well- 

 ventilated building, in which case the heads are usually cut from the 

 stalks, carefully trimmed and stored in small bins or on shelves. If 

 such facilities are not available an area on a well-drained portion of 

 the field is prepared for the storage of the cabbage. The preparation 

 usually consists in leveling an area wide enough to allow about five 

 heads of cabbage to be placed, roots up, in a continuous row or belt, 

 three in the first layer and two in the second. The outer leaves are all 

 preserved and carefully wi-apped arour\d the heads as they are placed, 

 after which the whole is covered with a layer of straw or marsh hay, 

 and, as the weather increases in severity, with a slight layer of earth. 

 In the milder portions of the country this protection is employed for 

 the whole winter. Farther north the soil layer must be increased, and 

 where winters are severe storage houses should be used rather than 

 this primitive method of storing. 



If the crop is to be stored on a more extensive scale it may be placed 

 on a ventilated platform and piled in long ricks, and then covered with 

 rye straw and a layer of earth. 



Varieties. — The varieties of cabbage used by market gardeners in- 

 clude not only the Jersey Wakefield for extra early but a variety of 

 the early summer or sure-head type for midseason with seme of the 

 Flat Dutch sorts as the main fall crop. 



Cabbage as a Farm Crop. 



Cabbage finds its most congenial habitat as a farm crop in the 



northern tier of States, including those bordering on the Great Lakes, 



the New England States, and, to a less extent, in Kentucky, Tennessee 



and Missouri. New York grows almost three times the acreage of any 



