Book VI. THE CABBAGE. RfJ? 



somewhat difficult to find a substitute on a small scale. I should imagine, though, that a stout iron plato, 

 punched with triangular holes, the rough edges of which are left standing, somewhat alter the manner of 

 a nutmeg-grater, might answer the purpose, only that I would have it somewhat concave instead 

 of convex. Upon the rough side of this plate 1 would rub the roots by hand. If there should be 

 a cider-mill and press within a reasonable distance, it might answer to take the roots thither, slice 

 them, and pass them through the mill. When by these or any other means they are reduced to 

 pulp, the juice should be pressed from the pulp, which is thus done : It is put into canvass bags, 

 not too fine, so as to impede the running of the juice, nor yet so coarse as to let the pulp through the 

 meshes. The bags should be so fitted as, when pressed, to occupy about an inch in depth. Most manu- 

 factories use about twenty-five of these bags at one pressing, but this depends on the power of the press. 

 Between every bag of pulp is laid a sort of osier hurdle, to allow the juice to percolate freely from the 

 press into the juice-cistern below. The operation of pressing should immediately follow that of rasping. 

 This point should be particularly attended to. 



5491. Defecation. The juice being expressed from the pulp, the next process is the defecation of the 

 juice, and "here, too, no time should be lost. This is effected by boiling : a copper boiler should be used. 

 Get up the fire till the thermometer indicates 170 or 178. Then add sifted lime (quick) previously 

 mixed with water, at the rate of five or six pounds for every 100 gallons of juice. Stir it well up, and 

 skim the liquor. Heat it till the thermometer reaches 2()(P. Add sulphuric acid in small portions, 

 diluted with six times its bulk of water, to neutralise the effect of the lime, stirring it briskly each time. 

 The proper quantity is ascertained by carefully examining the juice every time the acid is added, with a 

 drop of syrup of violets in a spoon, which ought to turn of a green colour. About thirty ounces of the 

 acid to every 100 gallons of juice will be necessary This done, the fire is quenched, and the boiler left 

 to settle for half an hour ; at the end of which time, the liquor is drawn off: by some, bullock's blood 

 is added when the temperature of the juice reaches 190 in the proportion of two pints and a half to every 

 twenty gallons of juice. Some, too, apply the sulphuric acid to the juice when cold, instead of hot, viz. 

 before the boiler-fire is lighted ; and one recommends its being applied to the pulp before it goes into the 

 boiler : but all this practice will decide. 



.0491?. Concentration. The next process is concentration of the juice, which means nothing more than 

 evaporating from it the water therein contained. This is effected by flat pans, over a brisk fire, but not 

 so as to burn the syrup, which is the great danger in this operation. When reduced in pan 1 from 

 4 to '2 inches or so in depth, it is put into a smaller pan (2), and reduced to the same depth, and after- 

 wards into a third pan. These three removals are the work of an hour and a half If the syrup rises, 

 and threatens to overflow the pan, put in a small lump of butter, which will make it subside. 



5493. Clarification. This the next operation, and may be carried on in one of the pans used for con- 

 centration. Animal charcoal (some have even used wood charcoal) is now applied, at the rate of half a 

 pound for every gallon of syrup, which renders it perfectly black and muddy. In this state, add blood 

 mixed with water (stirred up well with the syrup), in the proportion of about a pint and a half of blood 

 to every twenty gallons of syrup. 



5494. Boil it a short time, after which it is filtered, and then boiled again, care being taken not to burn 

 the pan. Great care is necessary in examining the state of the syrup from time to time. The thermometer 

 ought to stand as high as 234 j on attaining which, the pan should be emptied : eighteen gallons of syrup 

 will be reduced, by boiling, to eleven gallons. The syrup is next cooled in a suitable vessel to 182 or 

 190", and then run into moulds ; but the cooling is very gradual. The pan is covered, and the heat kept 

 in by closing the edges with flannel. The syrup is then poured into large earthen moulds cone-shaped, 

 and with a hole at bottom, through which the molasses drains. This hole is temporarily stopped till the 

 mould is full A mould contains ten or twelve gallons, and requires a month to purge itself. As it cools, 

 it crystalises. The syrup, whilst filling, is at 67'' to 77 ; but, in the course of purging, it is raised to Vi{p 

 and even 14.5, which expedites the flow of the molasses. Our next process is turning the moulds, i. e. 

 setting the cones on their bases, and taking them out of the moulds. 'Ihe point of the cone is moist and 

 syrupy : this is cut off, and boiled over again with the molasses. Thus far the process of making brown 

 sugar : refining is a different business, and one which there is no occasion to particularise here. It is to 

 be observed, that copper utensils are preferred to those of iron, the latter having a chemical effect on the 

 sugar. {Gard. Mag. vol. vi. pp. 150, 151.) 



5495. To save seed, select the finest specimens, preserve them in sand during winter, 

 and plant them in an airy part of the garden in March. The rest is easy. 



5496. To diseases no plant is less liable than the beet. 



Sect. VI. The Cabbage Tribe. 'Brdssica L. ; Tetradyndmia Siliquosa L., and Crii' 

 cifercB J. Chou, Fr. ; Kohl, Ger. ; Cavolo, Ital. ; and Col, Span. 



5497. The cabbage tribe is of the greatest antiquity in gardens, and most of the species 

 may be cultivated in the fields with success. For the common purposes of farming, 

 however, there can be little doubt that they will afford less profit than any of the plants 

 hitherto treated of in this chapter ; but near large towns or sea-ports they may answer 

 the purpose of the farm-gardener. Cabbage culture, Brown observes, is much more 

 hazardous, far less profitable, and attended with infinitely more trouble, than that of 

 turnips ; while the advantages to be derived are not, in our opinion, of a description to 

 compensate the extra hazard and trouble thereby incurred. 



5498. The culture of cabbage has been strongly recommended by several speculative 

 agriculturists, and examples adduced of extraordinary produce and profits ; but any plant 

 treated in an extraordinary manner will give extraordinary results ; and thus an inferior 

 production may be made to appear more valuable than it really is. One reason why so 

 much has been said in their favour, by Arthur Young and other southern farmers, is, 

 tliat they compare them with the produce of turnips, which, in the south of England, is 

 averaged at only fifteen tons per acre. 



5499. The variety of cabbage, cultivated in the fields for cattle, is almost exclusively 

 the large field cabbage, called also the Scotch, Strasburg, drumhead, &c. For the pur- 

 poses of domestic economy, other varieties of early and late cabbage, as the York, Bat- 

 tersea, sugar-loaf, imperial, &c. are grown ; and also German greens, Savoy cabbage, and 

 even Brussels sprouts and broccoli. 



5500. The cow cabbage. Cesarean cole, or tree cabbage (.Brassica olerkceaJ.. var. acephala Dec. ; Chou 

 cavalier, Chou a vaches, Chou branchu, Chou en arbre, Chou mille teles, Fr. ; Caulet, Flein.), is much cul- 



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