A MANUAL OF VEGETABLE PLANTS. 37 



we state that our sales of cabbage plants to 

 market gardeners and planters have ranged to 

 upwards of eight hundred thousand in a single 

 spring. Nearly all the purchasers of these, at 

 least all those who bought in large quantities, 

 would have grown their own plants, had they 

 been satisfied that they could have produced 

 as good and healthy plants at home as they 

 received from us. In some seasons^ (the pres- 

 ent, 1877, being a remarkable one in this re- 

 spect) every thing will be so favorable that in 

 many localities plants in abundance can be 

 grown by mere chance, nothing happening to 

 attack them to their detriment. But this 

 chance cannot be depended upon safely, for in 

 a majority of instances it will simply result in 

 failure. In how many thousands of instances 

 does a man's experience culminate somewhat 

 as follows: 



A man desires to raise a field of cabbage. 

 He first consults all the seed catalogues and 

 works on gardening in his possession, to ac- 

 quaint himself with the best varieties for his 

 particular purpose. Having made his selec- 

 tion, he dispatches a dollar or two to some 

 seedsman of his acquaintance, for his supply 

 of fresh seeds. He now begins to see difncul- 



