400 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No 7 



eessed of any really deleterious property. Among 

 nearly one thousand species, as Dr. Lindley ob- 

 serves, "scattered over the face of the world, all 

 are harmless, and man}' highly useful." 



The varieties of tiie cabbaije are numerous, but 

 he tvho possesses the best Early York, has that 

 which combines most of the valuable qualities ot 

 that excellent vegetable — compactness of heart, 

 firmness, sweet flavor, and convenient size and 

 form ; it is also hardy, of very ready culture, and 

 occupies but little space. I do not recommend it 

 merely as a culinary vegetable ; it might, and I 

 think should, be made to rotate with the crops of the 

 farm. It is not my desire now to digress, but 1 

 hope on a future occasion to adduce liicts which 

 will go llir to prove that every farm throughout the 

 kingdom would be improved, and the agriculturist 

 proporlionably benefited, by a greatly enlarged ro- 

 tation. The land has powers and capabilities to 

 double its productive return: We southerns are 

 much indebted to our northern brethren for the 

 lessens of wisdom which their refined system of 

 agriculture has already taught us, but these cul- 

 tivators, skilful and preserving as they have effec- 

 tually proved themselves to be, may still advance; 

 and with this conviction before me, 1 hope I may 

 not be deemed presuming, if, at the earliest oppor- 

 tunity, I venture to attempt to fulfil the intention 

 which I have alluded to above, and for which I 

 am collecting the requisite documents. 



The soil lor cabbage should be a sound mellow 

 loam, of a quality usually termed fat, or unctu- 

 ous, wherein the silex, which forms its chief con- 

 stituent, is in a state of extremely minute division, 

 and united to a greater proportion of argillaceous 

 earth (alumiac,) than most common, gritty soils 

 are ; but the chief desideratum of an unctuous 

 loam is the impalpable state of the silex ; lor I 

 have analyzed one of the finest loams I ever saw, 

 without t)eing able to detect in it more than five or 

 six per cent, ol" clayey substances, and scarcely a 

 grain of chalk. But the cabbage will do well in 

 most soils, provided it be exposed to the full influ- 

 ence of light and air, and be not shaded or stifled 

 by trees, shrubs, or buildings. 



Seed. — This will retain its vegetative power for 

 three or more years, but it is always better to em- 

 ploy that produced in the preceding season, or if 

 two or three year old seed be used, it should 

 be fried in ircat, sown in a fiower pot: a serious 

 loss of time may be occasioned by a failure of 

 the seed-bed. An ounce of seed will sufllce to 

 sow forty square feet, if scattered broadcast, but 

 less will be required if it be sown in drills, six or 

 seven inches asunder ; and this method is always 

 advantageous, because the Dutch or thrust-hoe 

 can, at any time, be passed easily between the 

 rows. If cabbage be cultivated in the field, it is 

 calculated that half a pound of seed will afford 

 more plants than will grow on an acre ; and it is 

 stated, in recommendation of the vegetable for the 

 purposes of the (iirm, that if the cabbages be cut, 

 freed from bad leaves, and carried to the cow-yard, 

 "they are more beneficial than hay, given in any 

 proportion, when only combined with straw." 



In the fatlcninp; of neat cattle, an acre of good 

 cabbages may be nearly sufficient for three beasts 

 of from forty to filly stones each, which have been 

 grazed in the pasture during the summer. A 

 middle-sized bullock, in general, consumes about 



100 lbs. in twelve hours."* "Half an acre will be 

 nearly sufficient for 100 sheep, when the crop is 

 good: a sheep consumes nearly 10 or 12 lbs. in 

 twelve hours." (Baxter's yJgric.^ I have re- 

 peatedly tried cabbage in cow feeding, and on 

 every account recommend the substitut'on ol" York 

 cabbages for the coarser and more bulky varie- 

 ties. 



In garden- cult are, we have to consider the ob- 

 ject of the cultivator: if spring or early summer 

 cabbage only be required, one sowing of a single 

 long row or a small bed will suffice. In the south- 

 ern or middle counties of E;igland, it is usual to 

 limit the period of sowing between the 6th and 

 the 12th days of August;. but in the north, I pre- 

 sume that the third or fourth week. ot July should 

 be chosen. Experience has proved that seed sown 

 early in Julj^, will produce plants which are liable 

 to run to seed in the following spring; while, on 

 the contrary, the plants of late sowings rarely ac- 

 quire strength sufficient to resist the rigors of the 

 winter. The soil for a seed-bed ought to be light- 

 er than that used during the future growth of the 

 plants : it should be moved to the depth of a lew 

 inches, and made very fine: then, the line being 

 strained tight, the first, drill is to be cut by draw- 

 ing the angle of a hoe in the direction of the line, 

 with its edge resting against it. An inch or less 

 in depth is sufficient ; butj as all seeds rise better 

 if they rest upon a true surface, and be closely 

 embraced by the mould, it will be proper to level 

 and compress the bottom of the little drill by pat- 

 ting it with the back of a wooden, round-headed 

 rake, or by placing a long pole, like the handle 

 of a rake, into it, so as to form a sort of groove. 

 In this the seeds are to be scattered as regularly 

 as possible, after which it would be as well to dust 

 them over regularly with a powder composed of 

 two parts (say pounds) of powdered quick-lime, 

 one part of coal-soot, and one sixteenth part (one 

 ounce) of flour of sulphur. This mixture is inim- 

 ical to insects, and does not injure the young 

 plants. The groove is next to be filled up with 

 fine earth, Avhich is to be made firm and even, by 

 pressing it down with the flat of the spade. In 

 like manner, all the other drills may be made and 

 finished. If the weather be shower}', and the 

 ground in a moist state, but still li-ee and open to 

 work, nothing more need be done. It sometimes 

 happens, however — as was the case to a very in- 

 jurious extent throughout the summer of 1835 — 

 that the soil is found dry even to dustiness. In 

 that case, as it will not answer to let the critical 

 period pass over, the intended bed should be wa- 

 tered copiously for three successive nights, till it 

 become complely moist, and a mat or two must 

 be thrown over it during the intervening days. 

 Seeds sown in soil thus prepared, will vegetate 

 very rapidly ; for warmth and moisture are the 

 prime actuating agents of vegetative life, as di- 

 rect solar light is that of maturation. VV^aterings, 



* There must surely be some error in this statement, 

 of an acre of cabbage being able to fatten nearly three 

 boasts of from 40 tj? 50 stones each : 100 lbs. of cab- 

 bage in tvveh'e hours, that is the average number of 

 hours of day-light in each day, for twenty weeks from 

 the end of October, will amount only to 6 tons 5 cwt. 

 Now a middlecl-sizrd ox will, in that time, consume SO 

 tons of Swedish turnips. Do 6 tons 5 cwt. of cabbage 

 yi< Id as much nutriment as 30 tons of Swedish turnip? 

 Ed. 



