200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



all dry, as it much facilitates their establishment and subsequent 

 growth. 



Our own experience leads to the conclusion that composted 

 manures are better than fresh, tending to produce plants of a 

 finer flavor, and less liable to club-foot, and this seems to be the 

 opinion of those who are considered good authority on the subject. 

 Some good cultivators make use of a compost of peat and night 

 soil, well incorporated together. Manuring in the hill is recom- 

 mended by some, but it is believed that the better way is to 

 enrich the ground enough at the first ploughing to secure a 

 good crop without being obliged to resort to this method. 

 Guano and superphosphate may be used as special fertilizers, 

 and also salt, at the rate of ten bushels to the acre. 



Before proceeding further it will be necessary to dwell some- 

 what upon the production pf the plants' in their early stages, for 

 upov these depends the value of the crop. 



The first point of course is good seed, and this means that it 

 must not only be sound but properly grown, otherwise tliere is 

 no certainty that the crop will head well. There are some 

 seedsmen who can be depended upon to produce a genuine 

 article, but there are too many that are not sufiiciently careful 

 in the matter. There is no need, however, that the cultivator 

 should be dependent on the seedsman for his supply, as" by a 

 little painstaking, he can raise his own. Burr's directions for 

 obtaining seed are, to select perfect heads and set them three 

 feet apart each way. As they grow, remove the side shoots and 

 encourage the main sprout, which will push up through the 

 centre of the head. Seed thus cultivated for a few successive 

 years will produce plants, ninety per cent, of which will yield 

 well-formed and good-sized cabbages. 



There arc many varieties to clioose from, among the most 

 popular of which, perhaps, are the early York, said to have 

 been introduced to England from Flanders, more than a hundred 

 and fifty years ago, by a returned soldier, who settled in York- 

 shire as a seedsman, whence its name ; the Winningstadt, a 

 little later than the York, and a little larger, with a very solid 

 head; the Bergen, raised largely for the New York market; 

 the premium flat Dutch ; and the Stonemason, originated by 

 Mr. Stone, of Marblehead. 



