144 



TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



A study of the above table will show: 



First. That a crop of twenty-five tons of cabbages will 

 exhaust within fifty-five pounds all the lime contained in 

 an application of fifty tons of stable manure, and, if only 

 that quantity were applied, an English or Northern yield 

 of fifty tons, not an excessive estimate, under their closer 

 planting, would require one hundred pounds more of 

 lime than is contained in the manure. As was stated 

 before, nearly all land holds sufficient lime for ordinary 

 crops; but, unless the soil is rich iu this component 

 (often the case on the coast), land used for cabbage crops 

 would be benefited by a dressing of lime, of about thirty 

 bushels to the acre, every three or four years. It is not 

 only a chief constituent of the crop, but it renders the 

 nitrogen in the soil more available. 



Second. That exceedingly rich land is required for a 

 good crop of cabbages; therefore, as no crop can take up 

 all the nitrogen and other plant food contained in an ap- 

 plication of manure, the larger the amount of this plant 

 food and the greater its concentration and availability, 

 the more satisfactory will be the result. 



Third. That if the stable manure used is deficient in 

 liquid excrement, or has been exposed to leaching rains, 

 fifty tons should be supplemented either with good Peru- 

 vian guano, or with nitrate of soda and an acid phosphate, 

 or with night-soil. If stable, or any other bulky or com- 

 posted manure is to be used, it is best to apply it broad- 

 cast for cabbage, after the land has been thoroughly pre- 



