CABBAGE 99 



almost sure prevention of this difficulty. Fre- 

 quent surface tillage is a certain protection against 

 drought and furnishes a steady supply of moisture. 

 Cultivation means everything. Keep at it as long 

 as there is room between the plants. Cabbages are 

 great feeders; they have voracious appetites, and 

 must have an extra supply of nitrogenous food. 

 That will be distributed regularly as cultivation 

 goes on. The bone-meal beneath the roots will 

 supply the additional phosphorus needed to make 

 hard heads. An abundance of quickly available 

 food supply is essential to the harvest. If the 

 weather is very dry, it may be necessary to water 

 the cabbages; but an even supply of the moisture 

 furnished by steady cultivation is much better 

 than a thorough soaking followed by a bone-dry 

 spell. However, water the cabbages when neces- 

 sary ; do it in thorough fashion ; and follow it with 

 shallow tillage to form the surface moisture-con- 

 serving mulch. Uninterrupted growth from hot- 

 bed to harvest is the one prime requisite in grow- 

 ing cabbage. 



Protection from disease and garden enemies will 

 be especially necessary. Club-root, root-maggot 

 and black-rot are the principal pests of the cab- 

 bage. Careful rotation must be practiced and cab- 

 bage should not be planted for several years on 

 infested land. The cabbage worm may be con- 

 trolled by an arsenate of lead bordeaux spray, un- 

 til the plants begin to head. 



