134 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



large tonnage produced per acre, and ilie fact that it is consumed 

 by all classes, account very largely for the extensive acreage grown 

 throughout the area of dense population. 



Preparation of tJie Land. - — Where grown as a farm crop cabbage is 

 used as one of the factors in a crop rotation for the farm, and may be 

 made to occupy a portion of the clover sod turned down in the year 

 when clover is turned under to provide for other crops. A common 

 rotation is to use corn, followed by oats with which clover is sown. 

 The clover is cut one season and turned under the following spring, 

 the area being devoted to cabbage and potatoes. The clover sod is 

 supplemented by a heavy dressing of stable manure on the portion to 

 be devoted to cabbage. If manure is not available the necessary supply 

 of plant food is made up by the use of a high-grade fertilizer carrying 

 3^ or 4 per cent of nitrogen, G or 8 per cent of phospiioric acid, and 

 8 or 10 per cent of potash, applied at the rate of 500 to 1,000 pounds to 

 the acre. 



Starting the Seedlings. — • When cabbage is grown as a farm crop the 

 seed bed is prepared in the open in a sheltered place. In the latitude 

 of central New York seeds are sown in the open early in Maj^ The 

 young plants are kept free from weeds, and should be ready to trans- 

 plant to the field about June 20. 



The choice of the site for the seed bed may determine the success or 

 failure of the whole enterprise. The vigor of the plants and their 

 freedom from disease are factors of prime importance. The seed bed 

 should, therefore, be located only on areas known to be free from 

 clubroot and rot organisms. Areas where cabbage has been grown or 

 where cabbage plants have been propagated in previous years are to 

 be avoided, as are also manures containing cabbage refuse. The 

 manure from stalls or pigsties where cabbage has been fed is to be 

 avoided on account of its liability to carry clubroot and rot organisms. 



Setting the Plants in the Field. — In some localities it is customary to 

 set the plants in check rows about 30 inches ajiart each way, so that 

 they can be cultivated in both directions. In other sections the plants 

 are set in rows one way only, and are placed 18 to 24 inches apart in 

 the row. With the large-growing late sorts, however, 30 inches 

 between the plants in the row is not too much space. If the trans- 

 planting is to be done by hand, it will be performed by puddling the 

 plants and setting them with a dibble. If carried on very extensively 

 the work can, as a rule, be more economically done by utilizing one of 

 the horsepower transplanters, in which case the plants are frequently 

 set about 20 inches apart in the row and cultivated in one direction 

 only. Painstaking growers, however, mark the Jfield 30 inches a]xirt in 

 one direction and drive the plant-setting machine at right angles to 

 these marks, thus enabling the setters to place the plants in check 

 rows 30 by 36 inches apart. This plan has the advantage of placing 

 the plants at better intervals and permits of cultivation in both di- 

 rections early in tlie season. 



