CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 9 



phosphates, or wood ashes, if the soil be in good condi- 

 tion, will answer ; though the richer and more abundant 

 the manure the larger are the cabbages, and the earlier 

 the crop will mature. 



To perfect the large varieties of drumhead — by which 

 I mean to make them grow to the greatest size possible — 

 I want a strong compost of barn-yard manure, with 

 night soil and muck, and, if possible, rotten kelp. A 

 compost into which night soil enters as a component is 

 best made by first covering a plot of ground of easy 

 access, with soil or muck that has been exposed to a 

 winter's frost, to the depth of about eighteen inches, 

 and raising around this a rim about three feet in height, 

 and thickness. Into this the night soil is poured from 

 carts built for the purpose, until the receptacle is about 

 two-thirds full. Barn manure is now added, being- 

 dropped around and covering the outer rim, and if the 

 supply is sufficient, on the top of the heap also, on 

 which it can be carted after cold weather sets in. Early 

 in Spring the entire mass should be pitched over, 

 thoroughly broken up with the bar and pick where 

 frozen, and the frozen masses thrown on the surface. 

 In pitching over the mass work the rim in towards the 

 middle of the heap. After the frozen lumps have 

 thawed give the heap another pitching over, aiming to 

 mix all the materials thoroughly together, and make 

 the entire mass as line as possible. A covering of sand 

 thrown over the heap before the last pitching will help 

 fine it. 



To produce a good crop of cabbages with a compost 

 of this quality, from live to twelve cords will be required 

 to the acre. If the land is in good heart by previous 

 high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, 



