CABBAGE. 265 



only Hnd, out of a great number of varieties, that 

 jfecommends itself to general culture or a place in a 

 common garden. 



CABBAGE. Brassica Oleracea, etc. 



Of this plant there are many varieties, principally 

 divided into early and late ; the first being the small- 

 est, and usually the most delicate. Of these, the 

 early Sugarloaf, early Hope, early London Market, 

 large Bergen, late Drumhead, Cape Savoy, and 

 Curled Savoy, are the most esteemed. The cultiva- 

 tion of cabbages, or the sowing, is divided into fall 

 and spring. Early cabbages should have the seed 

 sown in September, and be transplanted into beds 

 when cold weather approaches, where they can be 

 protected through the winter with sashes, &c. At 

 the end of the winter the ground must be fitted for 

 them, and the plants set out two feet apart each 

 way. They may also be sown in a hotbed in Feb- 

 ruary or March, and in April transplanted into the 

 garden ; and, if in good ground, they will be fit for 

 the market or table in June. If forced forward too 

 rapidly in the hothouse, or not sufficiently aired, the 

 plants will be weak, and the change from the bed to 

 the garden will retard them materially. 



Late cabbage should be sown in May, and trans- 

 planted in rows the middle of July ; and, if three feet 

 apart each way, the heads will be belter than when 

 nearer. Crbbage-plants at all times must be kept 

 clean, frequently hoed, and, when taken up to be put 

 into the cellar, should be placed with their heads 

 downward, to allow the water in them to drain out; 

 the weather, also, should be fine and dry. Slight 

 frosts do not injure cabbages ; but severe and re- 

 peated ones render them unfit for preservation. A 

 very good mode of preserving cabbages through the 

 winter is to dig a trench in a dry soil, in which the 

 cabbages, divested of their outer leaves, are placed, 

 and the earth filled in up to their necks. Over these 

 II.— X 



