PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 103 



proper ; but much of this should be avoided, because 

 plants, like animals, may become topers, and will 

 then drink more than will be useful to them. 



The transplanting of early cabbages should not 

 be delayed beyond the 12th of May, nor that of the 

 late kinds beyond the first of June. An acre of 

 ground will require about six thousand plants. 



The preparation of the soil for this crop is exactly 

 that described for potatoes, and which, therefore, 

 need not be repeated here. When the manuring, 

 ploughing, and harrowing are finished, strike your 

 furrows from east to west, four feet apart ; place 

 your plants in these, twenty inches from each other, 

 and do not forget so to press the earth as to bring it 

 in contact with every part of the roots. 



The advantage of this crop will be best seen by 

 contrasting it with another, hay for example. If 

 we get a ton of timothy per acre, we think we do 

 well, and are satisfied ; yet, if this acre had been 

 well worked and manured, and planted in cabbages, 

 it would, according to Mr. Young, have given you 

 more than thirty times the weight of the hay. Why 

 not, then, prefer the cabbages to the hay <*: Our cat- 

 tle, it may be said, will not like them so well. Hear 

 what the same author says on this head : " Young 

 cattle go through the winter well on cabbages ; ewes 

 and lambs thrive on them ; fatting oxen improve 

 faster on them than on any other food, and never fall 

 'Off, as they sometimes do on turnips ; and milch 

 cows do better on cabbages, six to one, than on 

 hay," &c. But the difficulty of preserving them 

 through the winter may be great. Not half as great 

 as that of preserving potatoes ; for a frost that will 

 convert these into dirty water, will do cabbages no 

 harm, and may even do them good. Mr. Cobbett 

 preserved them through a Long Island winter, and 

 had them sound and fresh in the month of May, 

 and by a method equally cheap and expeditious ; re- 

 quiring only a plough, a few leaves, straw, or brush, 



