63 CABBAGE. 



bed, from the 10th to the 25th of September, and, when the 

 plants are five or six weeks old, pricking them out into a 

 cold frame three to six inches apart each way, inserting 

 the plant down to the first leaf, and then protecting them 

 during the winter by sashes and straw or litter coverings, 

 giving them plenty of air on bright, sunny days. Plants 

 thus raised make very hardy, stocky plants for spring 

 planting. 



Another mode is in the fall to set a frame in a warm, 

 sheltered situation, and filling it up with leaves, and then 

 covering it with sashes or boards, and over them straw 

 or leaves, to prevent the frost from getting down to the soil. 

 About the latter end of January or beginning of February 

 the leaves may be thrown out, the soil nicely dug, and the 

 seed sown in the frame, putting on the sashes and protect- 

 ing it from the frost as in the first mode. 



The third mode is to sow the seed in a hot-bed about 

 the latter end of February or the beginning of March. For 

 their general treatment in this mode, see the chapter on 

 Hot-beds. 



From the first to the middle of April, the plants raised 

 by either of these modes may be transplanted with a dibble 

 into the permanent bed, and will produce good heads in 

 June. The distance apart will depend upon the varieties 

 grown, some requiring much more room than others, as 

 they differ in their growths. Such early sorts as we shall 

 recommend may be planted in rows two feet apart, the 

 plants being set on the rows eighteen inches apart. They 

 should be occasionally hoed and earthed up. 



For the late or autumn crop, the seed should be sown in 

 a prepared bed in the open ground during the month of 

 May, the drills being three or four inches apart. In all 

 sowings, see that the plants do not stand too thickly 



