64 Southern Gardener^ s Practical Manual 



plants may be grown in a box or flat two feet square 

 and three or four inches deep, filled with rich loam and 

 placed on a shelf on the south side of the dwelling at 

 any time during the winter, if the box is protected by 

 cheesecloth during mild weather and moved into the 

 house during very severe spells. As soon as the plants 

 form the third or first true leaf, they should be thinned 

 and the surplus plants transplanted to other boxes or 

 into a coldframe to become stocky. 



There is no plant which profits more by early and 

 frequent shallow cultivation. Indeed, the plant will 

 grow off more promptly if the surface is kept stirred 

 before transplanting both in the seed-bed and in the 

 field in which it is to be grown. The garden rake 

 properly used is the only implement needed. Some 

 twenty years ago Mr. Gregory, of Massachusetts, recom- 

 mended deep cultivation in the early growth of the 

 cabbage, accompanying the recommendation with the 

 statement that the roots were short. Other writers of 

 more recent date have made similar statements. To test 

 the correctness of this statement and recommendation, I 

 washed up the roots of a plant and found the laterals 

 five feet long. The cabbage requires a well -drained soil 

 but a liberal supply of moisture. The importance, there- 

 fore, of keeping the surface of the soil between and 

 around the plants continuously covered with the soil 

 mulch, by means of the frequent use of shallow cultiva- 

 tion, is apparent. 



There are so many excellent varieties offered by the 

 seedsmen that one can hardlj^ make a mistake in buying 

 from their lists. Wood^s Extra-Early, Solid South, Wood^s 



