CABBAGE. 



kept distinct. Some plants of the early varie- 1 

 ties should be planted in sheltered situations, 

 as in severe winters thny are apt to run pre- 

 maturely. 



Frame Seedlings. The first sowing of the 

 year in a hotbed must be carefully attended to. 

 The heat must never exceed 55, nor sink 

 more than two or three degrees beneath 50, 

 which is the most favourable minimum ; other- 

 wise the plants will be weak and tender, or 

 checked and stunted. Air should be admitted 

 freely in the day, and the glasses covered, as 

 necessity requires, at night with matting; the 

 other offices of cultivation are the same as for 

 plants raised in the open ground. 



Coleworts. One of the Latin names for cab- 

 bage is cau/is, and from this is derived cale or 

 cole and colewort. Coleworts now merely 

 signify cabbages cut young, or previously to 

 their hearts becoming firm, the genuine cole- 

 wort or Dorsetshire cale being nearly extinct. 

 The varieties of cabbage principally employed 

 for the raising coleworts are the large York 

 and sugar-loaf, as they afford the sweetest; 

 but the early York and East Ham are also em- 

 ployed, as also occasionally the Battersea, im- 

 perial, Antwerp, and early London hollow. 

 When large coleworts are in request, the great 

 spreading varieties should never be employed. 



Sowings may be performed during the mid- 

 dle of June and Julv, to be repeated at the end 

 of the latter month, for transplanting in August, 

 September, and October, for a continual sup- 

 ply in September until the close of March. A 

 fourth must be made the first week in August, 

 for succeeding the others in spring ; but, if of 

 sufficient extent, these various plantations 

 may be made from the seed-beds of the cab- 

 bage crops made at these several periods, as 

 directed under that head ; as the chief object 

 in growing coleworts is to have a supply of 

 greens sooner than can be obtained from the 

 plantations of cabbages if left to form hearts. 



The observations upon transplanting, and 

 the directions for cultivating cabbages, apply 

 without any modification to coleworts; but the 

 distance at which the plants may be set is 

 much less : if the rows are a foot apart, and 

 the plants seven or eight inches dfstant from 

 each other, an abundant space is allowed. As 

 mentioned for cabbages, the heading is greatly 

 forwarded by their leaves being drawn to- 

 gether so as to enclose the centre. They may 

 be cut when the leaves are five or six inches 

 in breadth. The most preferable mode of 

 taking them is to pull -up or cut every other 

 one ; these openings are beneficial to the re- 

 maining plants; and some, especially of the 

 August-raised plants, may be left, if required, 

 for cabbaging. 



Colewort, or Dorsetshire cale, is now nearly 

 superseded by the new cabbages of modern 

 times. The wild coleworts grow in ditches 

 and moist places. 



Savoy (Erassica olerarea sabattda). The 

 savoy, which is one of the best and chief of 

 our vegetable supplies during the winter, de- 

 rives its name either from being an introduc- 

 tion from that part of Europe with which it 

 bears a similar name, or, otherwise, is a cor- 

 ruption from the French savourer. All its 

 32 



CALAMINT, COMMON. 



varieties may be denominated hardy, being 

 jenerally rendered more sweet and tender by 

 frost, though not all equally capable of with- 

 standing the rigour of winter. There are three 

 varieties of savoy, the yellow, the dwarf, and 

 the green : and of each of these there are like- 

 wise two sub-varieties, the round and the 

 oval-headed, the first of which is the most 

 permanent. Each variety has been described 

 by Mr. Morgan, gardener to H. Brown, Esq., 

 of North Mimms. Like the other members 

 of this tribe, it is propagated by seeds ; the first 

 sowing to take place at the close of February, 

 the plants of which are ready for pricking out 

 in April, if that practice is adopted, and for 

 final planting at the end of May for use in 

 early autumn; this to be repeated about the 

 middle of March, the plants to be pricked out 

 in May for planting in June, to supply the table 

 in autumn and early winter; lastly, the main 

 crops must be sown in April and early May, 

 to prick out and plant after similar intervals 

 for production in winter and spring. The seed 

 is sown broadcast thinly, and raked in as men- 

 tioned for other species of brassica. The 

 plants are fit for pricking out when they have 

 four or five leaves about an inch in breadth ; 

 they must be set three or four inches asunder 

 each way, being both here and in the seed-be'l 

 kept well cleared of weeds. When finally re- 

 moved, the plants of the first crops should be 

 set out two feet apart each way from one an- 

 other; but the winter standing crops are better 

 at two feet by eighteen inches. Both before 

 and after every removal they should be 

 watered abundantly, if the weather is at all 

 dry ; and this application to be continued until 

 the plants are well established. The only 

 after-culture required is the keeping them 

 clear of weeds by frequent broad-hoeing and 

 the earth drawn up two or three times about 

 their stems. For the production of seed, such 

 plants must be selected of the several varieties 

 as are most true to their particular character- 

 istics, and as are not the first to run. These, 

 in open weather, from early in November to 

 the close of February, (the earlier, however, 

 the better,) may be taken up with as little injury 

 as possible to the roots, and the large under 

 leaves being removed, planted entirely up to 

 the head in rows two feet and a half each way, 

 each variety as far from the other as possible. 

 They flower in May or June, and ripen their 

 seed in July and August. (G. W. Johnson's 

 Kitrhen Garden.} 



CABBAGE CATERPILLAR. This belongs 

 to a genus of butterflies called the potherb 

 pontia (Pontia oleracea}. See CATERPILLAR. 



CABBAGE-CUTWORM. See CUTWORM. 



CABBAGE-LICE. See APHIS. 



CABBAGE TREE (Chamaops palmetto). See 

 PALMETTO. 



CAG, or KEG. A vessel of the barrel kind, 

 containing four or five gallons. 



CAIRN (Welsh com). A heap of stones. 



CAKE. See OAT CAKE and RAPE CAKE. 



CALAMINT, COMMON (Thymus cala- 

 mi, itha, Smith). This is a wild plant, growing 

 in England in hedges and dry places, flowering 

 from June till autumn. It is eight or ten inches 

 , high ; has roundish dark-green leaves, and 



249 



