THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



373 



d vaches, and ihe other larcre varieties, in planl- 

 beds in March and April, or in July and August, 

 they replant them where ihey have ailaincd siil- 

 ficient size, the first of April or May, the second 

 Irom September to November, in rows about 

 three feet apart, and between two and three (eei 

 distant in the row, the space varying with the 

 variety and the ftjrtility of the soil. Whilst they 

 are growing the ground is kepi clean with the 

 hoe. The cabbage yields its product of leaves 

 in the spring of their second year from being 

 sown. Tlie caulet of Flanders, cultivated chiefly 

 in the environs ol' Lille, is very similar in its a|>- 

 pearance, its height, and its product to the chou 

 a vaches. The chou branchee or mille-tetes of 

 Poitou is the variety which they preler loculii- 

 vaie about Chollet lor the laitening ol' cattle; it is 

 less tall than the chou d vaches, but it is at least 

 as productive; it is furnished irom the foot with 

 numerous strong shoots, which give it very much 

 the appearance of a thick shrub. 



The chou vivace oi' Dauhenlon is like the pre- 

 ceding, but its lateral stalks, more particularly 

 those situated near the lower part of the trunk, 

 grow to a considerable length, and oiten bend them- 

 selves and form an elbow on the ground, where it 

 puts out roots. This has caused Daubenton to call 

 nchoudc bouture, (the cabbage of suckers.) Ii 

 stands the winter's cold very well, aud was one ol 

 the l(5w varieties which supported the severity ol 

 1830. These diflferent varieties, with all those that 

 may be properly called green cabbages, are cul- 

 tivated all in the same manner, and are but little 

 eensible to the cold. Six or eight ounces of seed 

 will lurnish enouL'h plants to set out an acre. 



Chou ^rbredc Laponie. — M. Madiot, director of 

 the gardens at Lyons, has recommended under 

 this name a cabbage which he says will last 8 or 

 10 years, resist all extremities of cold, and yield 

 a great quantity of produce. In many compara- 

 tive experiments, this variety has appeared so 

 much to resemble the chou a vaches that we 

 think it cannot be disiingushed from it. The 

 winter of 1830-31 destroyed both. 



Chou f rise vert du nord, and Chou frise rouge 

 du nord, Brassica oleracea fimbriala. These two 

 varieties are very much cul'iivated in the north of 

 Europe. They differ li-om the preceding varieties, 

 in having their leaves pinnatifid, which renders 

 them less productive. But they have in their 

 favor the advantage of being much more hardy. 

 The winters of 1830 and 1832, present a remark- 

 able proof of this !act ; they supported them almost 

 without any alteration, (the frise rouge especi- 

 ally,; whilst the chou a vaches and the Poitou, 

 and most others were destroyed. 



Chou-navet, Chou-turnep, Chou de Laponie, 

 Brassica, Napo- brassica. — Its produce consists 

 chiefly in its plump root, which is like the turnip, 

 and one of its most valuable qualities is that it 

 resists the cold almost entirely. They usually 

 cultivate it in the same manner that they do the 

 other kinds, with the difference that it is better 

 to place the plan's nearer together. They also 

 obtain very fine roots by sowing them where they 

 are to stand, either in rows (which is the best 

 way,) or broadcast. 



In either case they sow them so that they may 

 be thinned, leaving the plants about twelve inches 

 apart. It should be sown at any time from April 

 to June, at about 4 pounds of seed to the hectare. 



Chou ruta baga, Navet de Suede, Brassica. — 

 This" plant, introduced niio France in 1792, was 

 known in Englami a few years before, where it 

 is now most extensively cultivated. It resembles 

 very much the chou navet, with which M. Son- 

 nini has mal-d propos conlounded it, for they are 

 entirely distinct plants. The ruta baga can be 

 trdiisplanied, hut ii is btst to sow it where it is to 

 siand, (or rather to grow.) It is best to sow it 

 in rows, and to let it have the same space with 

 ihe chini navet. It attains maturity more rapidly 

 than that, and is about one month more early. 

 Both accommodate themselves better than the 

 Irirge cabbages to light and indifferent lands, but 

 they preler tiiem good and manured. The ruta 

 baga will resist mueli cold, and may be kept in 

 the fields during the win'er, to be taken up only 

 when there is need for them, but I have frequent- 

 ly remarked, that great humidity and alternate 

 freezing and thawing, was more injiArious to them 

 than to the chou navet, this delect, however, is 

 counterbalanced by the beauty and neatness of 

 its roots. Buih afford valuable resources for food 

 lor horned cattle and sheep, to which iheyare 

 given when cut up. The chou-navet, and the 

 large cabbages are cultivated still in some coun- 

 ties as food lor cattle. 



Chou colza, Brassica oleracea campestris. — It is 

 chiefly for the oil which is obtained from its grain 

 that the chou colza is cultivated. This oil is a 

 great object of commerce in Flanders, Belgium, 

 &c., but it answers also lor food for cattle. For 

 this use it may be transplanted into rows as the 

 other green cabbages; but the best manner ap- 

 pears to me to be that adopted by M. Yvart, 

 which is to work the stubble fields immediately 

 after harvest, with a plough or heavy harrow, and 

 then to sow the seed at about ten pounds to the 

 hectare. This plant will get through an ordinary 

 winter without damage, and will, at the end of 

 thai lime, furnish either pasturage or food to be 

 led away green in the stable, both of which will 

 be valuable from the season at which they come 

 in. All of the hardy cabbages, and still better the 

 ruta baga and the chou navet, can be thus used ; 

 the only particular advantage that the colza has 

 in this respect is the small expense at which the 

 seed may be obtained. '' 



Cultivation of the colza for grain. — The me- 

 thod above described is only proper when the colza 

 is to be used as green food in the spring ; when 

 cultivated lor the grain more care is necessary. 

 From the middle of July to the last of August, 

 tliey sow it in beds well prepared, and in six or 

 eight months they transplant the young plants 

 into ground equally well prepared and manured, 

 placing them one foot apart each yvay. They 

 plant them thus on beds of twelve feet in width, 

 leaving between these beds intervals of two or 

 three feet.unplanied, from which intervals earth is 

 obtained later in the season, to place about the 

 leet of the plants. If one desires to work between 

 the rows with the cultivator or skimmer, it is ne- 

 cessary to increase the distance to eighteen inches 

 or two leet. It is essential to gather the seed so 

 soon as a large majority of the pods have attained 

 almost to maturity, else gre:n loss will be expe- 

 rienced by shattering. Sometimes the colza is 

 sown, where it is to stand, broadcast; but it is 

 then necessary to thin them with the hoe. What 

 I have said is applicable to the common winter 



