114 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



some varieties will mature on poor soil, they all require the 

 highest cultivation for the best development. This is especially 

 true of early cabbage, which needs much richer soil than the 

 late crop. It is a good plan to occasionally change the land 

 used for cabbage; in some eastern sections it is necessary to 

 do this each year on account of the prevalence of the disease 

 called club-root. 



Manure. The cabbage is a gross feeder and needs lots of 

 rich manure. Most of our best growers apply manure broad- 

 cast, but when there is a necessity of economizing with the 

 manure, it may be applied to better advantage in the hill. pro- 



Fig. 53. Cross section of cabbage head showing arrangement of stem 

 and leaves. 



viding the land is in good condition. In growing eariy cab- 

 bage, it is an excellent plan to apply a handful or so of dry 

 hen manure around the hills when the plants are half grown. 

 This should not be put close to the plants but scattered over a 

 radius of a foot or more from the plants and then be cultiva- 

 ted into the soil. 



Early Cabbage. The methods of cultivation adapted to the 

 growing of early cabbage are quite different from those fol- 

 lowed in raising late cabbage, and the subject of cultivation 

 naturally groups itself under these heads. The soil preferred 



