CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 27 



manure, whether it be used broadcast or in the hill. 

 About ten years ago I ventured to use hog manure 

 nearly pure, spread broadcast and ploughed in. Stump 

 foot soon showed itself. I cultivated and hoed the 

 cabbage thoroughly; then, as they still appeared sickly, 

 I had the entire piece thoroughly dug over with a 

 six-tined fork, pushing it as deep or deeper into the 

 soil than the plough had gone, to bring up the manure 

 to the surface ; but all was of no use ; I lost the entire 

 crop. Yet, on another occasion, stable manure on 

 which hogs had been kept, at the rate of two hogs to 

 each animal, gave me one of the finest lots of cabbage 

 I ever raised. 



CARE OF THE GROWING CROP. 



As soon as the young plants are large enough to be 

 seen with the naked eye, in with the cultivator and go 

 and return once in each row, being careful not to 

 have any lumps of earth cover the plants. Follow the 

 cultivator immediately with the hoe, loosening the soil 

 about the hills. The old rule with farmers is to culti- 

 vate and hoe cabbage three times during their growth, 

 and it is a rule that works very well where the crop is 

 in good growing condition; but if the manure is deficient, 

 the soil bakes, or the plants show signs of disease, then 

 cultivate and hoe once or twice extra. " Hoe cabbage 

 when wet," is another farmer's axiom.. In a small 

 garden patch the soil may be stirred among the plants 

 as often as may be convenient, it can do no harm ; cab- 

 bages relish tending ; though it is not necessary to do 

 this every day, as one enthusiastic cultivator evidently 

 thought, who declared that by hoeing his cabbages every 

 morning he had succeeded in raising capital heads. 



