CABBAGE IN THE MARKET GARDEN 165 



water and will draw any excess of moisture out of the ridges. As 

 soon as the ridges are dry enough they may be split with a plow or 

 lister, the middle filled, and the whole surface brought into condi- 

 tion for planting several days sooner than it could be made ready 

 if preparation had not been begun in the fall. Plants prepared as 

 described above can then be set in the ridge, or along the line of 

 the furrow, fresh earth from the top of the ridge having been 

 thrown into the furrow. 



Fertilizing the soil for the market-garden crop. The prepara- 

 tion of the soil should be very thorough, and fertilization should be 

 heavy. Cabbage is an exceedingly vigorous feeder and requires a 

 large amount of available plant food. Commercial fertilizers are 

 an advantage as a supplement to stable manure, and it is not wise 

 to depend exclusively on either ; the two should be combined. 

 Stable manure should be reenforced by the use of a commercial 

 fertilizer particularly rich in phosphoric acid and potash potash 

 being of special importance in the production of cabbage. A fer- 

 tilizer containing nitrate of soda, 300 pounds ; cottonseed meal, 

 700 pounds ; acid phosphate, 750 pounds ; muriate of potash, 200 

 pounds ; applied at the rate of 500 pounds to the acre, in addition 

 to 20 or 30 loads of stable manure, should produce a satisfactory 

 crop of either early or late cabbage. 



Cultivation of the market-garden crop. It is an old saw among 

 market gardeners that " Cabbage should be hoed every day," and 

 it is not far from the truth. It is almost impossible to give the 

 cabbage plant too much cultivation. Frequent shallow stirring of 

 the soil has a tendency to conserve the water supply, which, if 

 maintained at a high point, renders a large supply of plant food 

 available and induces a corresponding growth in the cabbage. In 

 market gardens where the most intensive systems of cultivation 

 are practiced and where cabbage is used as a succession crop with 

 lettuce, radishes, or spinach, it will not be possible to carry on cul- 

 tivation with horse power ; but where cabbage is planted by itself, 

 cultivation can, as a rule, be more economically conducted by horse 

 power, in which case narrow-toothed, shallow-cutting implements 

 should be used, and the operation repeated at least once a week. 

 Weeds should never be allowed to appear in the cabbage patch, 

 either early or late. 



