CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM ETC. 39 



than a cautious experimenter would dare to declare after 

 years spent in careful observation. The year 1869 I 

 raised over sixty varieties of cabbage, importing nearly 

 complete suites of those advertised by the leading English 

 and French seed houses, and collecting the principal 

 kinds raised in this country. I do not propose describ- 

 ing all these in this treatise or their comparative merits ; 

 of some of them I have yet something to learn, but I 

 will endeavor to introduce with my description such 

 notes as I think will prove of value to my fellow farmers 

 and market gardeners. 



I will here say in general of the class of early cab- 

 bages, that most of them have elongated heads between 

 ovoid and conical in form. They appear to lack in this 

 country the sweetness and tenderness that characterize 

 some varieties of our drumhead, and consequently in the 

 North when the drumhead enters the market there is 

 but a limited call for them. 



It may be well here to note a fundamental distinction 

 between the drumhead cabbage of England and those of 

 this country. In England the drumhead class are 

 almost wholly raised to feed to stock ; I venture the 

 conjecture that this is owing in part, or principally, to 

 the fact that, being raised for cattle, European gardeners 

 have never had the motive and consequently have never 

 developed the full capacity of the drumhead as cxampled 

 by the fine varieties raised in this country. The secur- 

 ing of sorts reliable for heading being therefore a matter 

 of secondary consideration, seed is raised from stumps 

 or any refuse heads that may be standing when Spring 

 comes around. For this reason English drumhead cab- 

 bage seed is better suited to raise a mass of leaves than 

 heads, and always disappoints our American farmers 

 who buy it because it is cheap with the expectation of 



