CABBAGE. 



CABBAGE. 



throughout a great part of the season, and they 

 remain growing for several years. 



There are different varieties of these larger 

 cabbages, which are more or less valued in 

 the places where they are cultivated. The 

 thousand-headed cabbage, chou a mille teles, is 

 remarked as possessing a greater number of 

 shoots ; the cow cabbage, Cesarian cole or 

 tree cabbage, as growing more to one stem, 

 and producing cream-coloured flowers ; the 

 Jersey cole, as being similar in its growth, and 

 producing yellow flowers. In the Netherlands, 

 and the Channel Islands, where the cultivation 

 of these plants is well understood, they are 

 sown in beds in autumn, and planted out in 

 succession from November till February. 

 About the month of April the farmers begin 

 with the first sown, to strip off their under 

 leaves for use. They give them to their cows, 

 hogs, geese, and other stock, cutting them in 

 small pieces, and mixing them with bran and 

 other farinaceous substances. During the 

 summer they continue this process of strip- 

 ping off the leaves, the plant in the meantime 

 rising to the height of several feet. (Gard. 

 Mag. vol. v.) This plant requires a good soil 

 and plentiful manure, and is regarded as a 

 great exhauster of the soil. It perhaps yields 

 a larger proportion of nutriment within the 

 same period than any other forage plant. It 

 may be presumed that it is not well fitted for 

 general cultivation, and in England will only 

 succeed in favourable situations, as the south 

 of England and Ireland, and the beautiful little 

 islands where it is now cultivated. When fed 

 to milch cows, the decayed leaves should be 

 carefully removed, as when eaten they impart 

 an unpleasant taste to the milk. 



The next class (continues Professor Low) 

 consists of those in which the root becomes 

 napiform. The principal variety is the kohl- 

 rabe or purple turnip cabbage (Brassica oleracea 

 var. caulo-rapa). This plant is cultivated in 

 Germany and the north of Europe. It is valued 

 as a resource for cattle in winter. While it 

 produces a -root like a turnip, it at the same 

 time sends forth stems bearing leaves like a 

 cabbage. It is not only hardy, but keeps better 

 in store than any plant of the cabbage kind. 

 It may be cultivated in the same manner as 

 the Swedish and yellow turnips; but the expe- 

 riments that have been made with it in this 

 country lead to the inference that it is not 

 equal to those turnips for the purpose of feed- 

 ing. The cabbages of the last-mentioned class, 

 as the cauliflower and the broccoli, are entirely 

 limited to the garden. The kinds of the cab- 

 bage which are best suited for field-crops and 

 the support of cattle, are the York, or large 

 Scotch, the ox-head, the drum-head, the red- 

 veined, and the American, which commonly 

 produce heads of 10 to 20 Ibs., and not unfre- 

 quently arrive to upwards of 30 Ibs. weight. 

 The above and other names, however, are fre- 

 quently applied where there is no real distinc- 

 tion. The most productive of these are the 

 alum-headed and American ; but the red-veined 

 and Scotch stand the winter best. They are 

 all known by their large leaves, which, as the 

 plant advances, collapse and form a dense 

 head. The large field cabbages are those 



246 



which are generally considered as the best 

 suited to farm culture, and are therefore those 

 most commonly planted ; but the species 

 known as the sugar-loaf cabbage, and so called 

 from its pointed form, though rarely exceeding 

 from 5 to 7 Ibs., may yet be in many cases 

 found more advantageous, for it can be grown 

 on land of more ordinary quality than the other 

 kinds ; it is hardier in constitution, more solid 

 and nutritive, and the inferiority of its weight 

 may be in a great degree made up by the 

 smallness of its size allowing of the plants 

 being set closer together. (Brit. Husb. vol. ii. 

 p. 255.) Of the different kinds, therefore, it 

 appears that the large field cabbage, whatever 

 name it may receive, is that which is best 

 suited for common field culture. This plant 

 impoverishes the soil very much. In collect- 

 ing the produce for consumption, the plants 

 (says the late Mr. Sinclair) should be drawn 

 up by the roots, and not merely cut over, as is 

 often practised to the detriment of the soil. 

 The different varieties above enumerated afford . 

 about equal quantities of nutritive matter. The 

 nutritive matter of the cabbage is wholly solu- 

 ble in water; that of the potato only partially 

 so, for a great proportion of the potato consists 

 of starch. According to Mr. Sinclair's experi- 

 ments 



Nutr. 



Matter, 



gra. 



7000 ers. or 1 Ib. of the drum-head cab- 

 bage (B. oleracea capitata) contains 430 



7000 grs. Early York cabbage (B. oler., 

 var ) - - - - ~- - - 430 



7000 grs. Woburn perennial kale (B. oler. 

 Jimbriata perennis) - 438 



7000grs.Green curled ka\e(B.oler.viridis) 440 

 Purple borecole, or kale (B. oler. 



Woody 

 Fibre, 

 gra. 



312 



laciniata) - 

 7000 grs. bulb of turnip-rooted cabbage 



(B. rapa, var.) 400 



7000 grs. leaves or tops of ditto - - 252 



- 448 1120 



320 

 360 J 



And upon an analysis of the respective ave- 

 rage nutritive qualities of each species of root, 

 cabbages were generally found superior to 

 common turnips, in the proportion of 107^ to 

 80, and inferior to Swedes in that of 107 to 

 110. Carrots are more nutritive than cabbages, 

 in the proportion of 187 to 107. (Hort. Gram. 

 Wob. p. 407, 408.) It is, however, the opinion 

 of an experienced farmer (Mr. Brown of Mar- 

 kle), that the culture of cabbage, taking into 

 consideration the greater consumption of ma- 

 nure, and the superior nature of the requisite 

 soil, does not afford advantages to be compared 

 with the scourge it occasions to the land. 

 (Brit. Husb. vol. ii. p. 258.) 



It is no uncommon thing to raise single cab- 

 bages that weigh 40 Ibs.: calculating the roots 

 upon an acre to average each 20 Ibs., and one 

 to be planted on every square yard, the produce 

 would yield 43 tons. Although it frequently 

 averages 30 tons, few crops, except under very 

 favourable circumstances, would reach to that 

 extent. Cabbages are greatly esteemed by 

 those farmers who have land capable of grow- 

 ing them, from their forming a substitute for 

 turnips during frosty weather, and also afford- 

 ing an admirable change of food for cattle, by 

 whom they are much relished ; and they are 

 also found to be very nutritious for stall-feed- 

 ing, or for the dairy, when used with the addi- 

 tion of sound hay. Hogs prefer them to turnips, 





