130 THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



Small Early Erfurt Cabbage. A very handsome little variety, 

 an almost exact miniature of the Hundredweight Drumhead 

 Cabbage. Stem short ; head flattened ; outer leaves marked 

 with a great number of white veins. It does best when sown 

 in spring, as autumn-sown plants are apt to run to seed without 

 heading. 



Henderson's Early Summer Cabbage. This variety, which 

 is of American origin and rather esteemed in the United 

 States, cannot be more properly placed than next after the 

 preceding kind, which it much resembles in size and appearance. 

 It has, however, a longer stalk, a thicker head, and leaves of 

 a grayer tint. In earliness, it comes immediately after the 

 Jersey Wakefield Cabbage, and before all the other large-headed 

 Cabbages. 



CULTURE. The Early Cabbages, among which may be classed 

 all the varieties which have just been enumerated (except, perhaps, 

 the Large Bacalan Cabbage), are usually sown about Paris during 

 the last ten days of August, or the first ten days of September. 

 In October, the seedlings are either planted out permanently, or 

 else pricked out into a bed, where they are allowed to remain until 

 they are planted out permanently in spring. In well-drained, 

 warm, light soils, they may be generally planted out permanently at 

 the end of autumn ; but in damp soils, or in localities which are 

 exposed to severe frosts and snow or excessive rains, it is better not 

 to plant out permanently until after winter is over. The earliest 

 York Cabbages should be planted in warm and sheltered positions 

 in a bed with a south aspect. In February, it is a good plan to 

 make a sowing of early kinds on a hot-bed, pricking out the 

 seedlings on a hot-bed also, and using the plants thus obtained to 

 fill up vacancies caused by any of the autumn-sown plants having 

 either perished from the severity of the winter or run to seed 

 prematurely under the influence of unusually mild weather. Early 

 Cabbages may also be sown in spring, from March to May, and 

 planted out as soon as the seedlings are big enough, if there 

 is ground ready to receive them. This is the simplest and 

 easiest way of growing them, but it is not so much practised 

 as sowing in autumn, as these early varieties are mostly grown 

 for spring crops. 



SMOOTH-LEAVED DRUMHEAD CABBAGES 



Saint-Denis Drumhead Cabbage. This variety, which is one 

 of the most extensively grown about Paris, and also one of the 

 oldest, may very aptly be placed first on the list in the enumeration 

 of the different varieties of Smooth-leaved Drumhead Cabbages, as 



